"Walter Jon Williams - Wall, Stone, Craft" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Walter John)

УAnd have you seen such?Ф GeorgeТs look was piercing.

Bysshe blinked at him. УBeg pardon?Ф

УI asked if you had seen showers of gore, upflashing steel, all that sort of thing.Ф

УAh. No.Ф He offered George a half-apologetic smile. УI do not hold warfare consonant with my principles.Ф

УYes.Ф GeorgeТs stomach rumbled once more. УItТs rather more in my line than yours. So I think I am probably better qualified to judge itЕФ His lip twisted. УЕ and your principles.Ф

Mary felt her hackles rise. УSurely you donТt dispute that warfare is a great evil,Ф she said. УAnd that the church blesses war and its outcome.Ф

УThe churchЧФ He waved a hand. УThe chaplains we had with us in Spain were fine men and did good work, from what I could see. Though we had damn few of them, as for the most part they preferred to judge war from their comfortable beds at home. And as for warЧay, itТs evil. Yes. Among other things.Ф

УAmong other things!Ф Mary was outraged. УWhat other things?Ф

George looked at each of the officers in turn, then at Mary. УWar is an abomination, I think we can all agree. But it is also an occasion for all that is great in mankind. Courage, comradeship, sacrifice. Heroism and nobility beyond the scope of imagination.Ф

УGlory,Ф said one-armed Somerset helpfully.

УDeath!Ф snapped Mary. УHideous, lingering death! Disease. Mutilation!Ф She realized she had stepped a little far, and bobbed her head toward Somerset, silently begging his pardon for bringing up his disfigurement. УEndless suffering among the starving widows and orphans,Ф she went on. УEarly this year Bysshe and Jane and I walked across the part of France that the armies had marched over. It was a desert, my lord. Whole villages without a single soul. Women, children, and cripples in rags. Many without a roof over their head.Ф

УAy,Ф said Harry Smith. УWe saw it in Spain, all of us.Ф

УMiss Godwin,Ф said George, Уthose poor French people have my sympathy as well as yours. But if a nation is going to murder its rightful king, elect a tyrant, and attack every other nation in the world, then it can but expect to receive that which it giveth. I reserve far greater sympathy for the poor orphans and widows of Spain, Portugal, and the Low Countries.Ф

УAnd England,Ф said Captain Austen.

УAy,Ф said George, Уand England.Ф

УI did not say that England has not suffered,Ф said Mary. УAnyone with eyes can see the victims of the war. And the victims of the Corn Bill as well.Ф

УEnough.Ф George threw up his hands. УI heard enough debate on the Corn Bill in the House of LordsЧI beg you, not here.Ф

УPeople are starving, my lord,Ф Mary said quietly.

УBut thanks to Waterloo,Ф George said, Уthey at least starve in peace.Ф

УHereТs our flesh!Ф said a relieved Harry Smith. Napkins flourished, silverware rattled, the dinner was laid down. Bysshe took a bite of his cheese pie, then sampled one of the little Brabant cabbages and gave a freckled smileЧhe had not, as had Mary, grown tired of them. Smith, Somerset, and George chatted about various Army acquaintances, and the others ate in silence. Somerset, Mary noticed, had come equipped with a combination knife-and-fork and managed his cutlet efficiently.

George, she noted, ate only a little, despite the grumblings of his stomach.

УIs it not to your taste, my lord?Ф she asked.

УMy appetite is off.Ф Shortly.

УThat light cavalry figure donТt come without sacrifice,Ф said Smith. УIТm an infantryman, though,Ф brandishing knife and fork, Уand can tuck in to my vittles.Ф