War Of Honor

popular support to get herself into Parliament on her own merits in the first place. Which none of them do. Or, at least, which none of them is prepared to risk finding out whether or not they do.'

'I don't believe I quite recognize the self-sacrificing heroine of your little morality tale.' She spoke dryly, but her blue eyes glowed. 'And even if I did resign my title, I'd hardly be swearing some sort of self-sacrificing vow of poverty. I'd have to talk to my accountants to be sure, but right off the top of my head, I'd guess that less than twenty-five percent of the total Tor fortune is actually entailed. To be honest, well over half of the current family fortune came from Mother's side and has nothing at all to do with the title.'

'I realize that, but somehow I wouldn't expect your brother to complain if you suddenly dumped the title on him,' he said, even more dryly then she had, and she snorted. If Henry Montaigne suddenly found himself Earl of the Tor, he would equally suddenly find himself among the top ten percent of the Star Kingdom of Manticore's wealthiest subjects. Of course, Cathy Montaigne would still be among the top three or four percent, but that was another matter entirely.

'But even though giving up the title wouldn't exactly consign you to poverty and leave you living in the gutter,' he continued, 'it wouldn't be a purely symbolic sacrifice, either. People would recognize that. And it would let you turn what High Ridge and his kind have made a liability—your exclusion from the Lords—into an asset.'

'Do you actually think I'd be able to accomplish more as a very junior MP than I can from where I am right now?'

'Yes,' he said simply.

'But I wouldn't have any seniority, wouldn't qualify for any of the choice committee chairmanships.'

'And precisely which committees in the Lords are you sitting on at this moment?' he asked sardonically, and chuckled when she made a face at him. 'Seriously, Cathy,' he went on more earnestly, 'you could scarcely accomplish less politically sitting in the Commons then you can as a peer who's been denied her seat in the Lords. And the house you sit in won't have any effect one way or the other on the types of influence you have outside official government channels. Besides, the Commons' seniority rules are a lot less ironclad. You might be surprised at the access to useful committee assignments which could be open to you. Especially if the Centrists decide to look for common ground with you.'

'And they probably would, wouldn't they?' she mused aloud, her expression thoughtful. 'If nothing else, they'd see me as a potential wedge to split New Kiev and the party leadership further away from the malcontents like me.'

'At the very least,' he agreed. 'And let's be honest here. One reason that they'd see you as a potential wedge is because that's precisely what you would be. In fact, it's the reason you'd be there in the first place.'

She glanced at him sharply, and he chuckled without humor.

'Come on, Cathy! We both know Jeremy taught you to be honest with yourself where your objectives and tactics are concerned. Don't you want to remove New Kiev and her cronies from control of the party?'

'And aren't you a Crown Loyalist who'd love to see the Liberals cripple themselves in internecine internal warfare?' she shot back.

'It wouldn't exactly break my heart,' he acknowledged cheerfully enough. 'But by the same token, since I've come to know you, I've actually been forced to admit that not all Liberals are goddamned idiots. Which, I might add, was not an easy thing for me to accept. I suppose present company is responsible for seducing me—you should pardon the expression—into recognizing the possibility that not all of them have overaged oatmeal for brains.

'However that may be,' he went on with a slight smile as she stuck out her tongue at him, 'I've come to the conclusion that I can live with a lot of the sorts of things you and Liberals like you believe in. We'll probably never agree on everything, but there's a lot to be said for a society where merit trumps bloodlines. I don't have a lot of use for most of the social-interventionist, lack-of-reality economic crap that comes along as part of the package with most Liberals, but then, neither do you, do you?'

'You know I don't.'

'Well then.' He shrugged. 'As I see it, if you're able to influence the party into pursuing goals compatible with the ones I favor anyway, then there's no reason I shouldn't work with you—or even other Liberals. But as you suggested a few minutes ago, there's not much chance of New Kiev and her bunch climbing out of bed with that unmitigated bastard High Ridge anytime soon. So if I want to work with any Liberals, I have to try to put someone like you in charge of them.' He grinned at her. 'You see? Nothing but pure, unadulterated, calculating self-interest on my part.'

'Sure it is.' She snorted, then stood in uncharacteristic stillness for several heartbeats while she thought it over.

'This is all very fascinating, Anton,' she said finally. 'But even if this entire ambitious scenario you've mapped out for me were workable, it would still depend on High Ridge calling elections. Which means that however interesting the possibilities are, I can't do anything about them. Probably not for years, the way things are going right now.'

'I agree that there's not much chance High Ridge is going to call a general election any sooner than he has to,' Zilwicki agreed calmly. 'But I've been doing a little quiet research. And it seems that the Member of Parliament for the Borough of High Threadmore right here in Landing has just been offered a very lucrative position with one of the major Solarian banking houses. If he accepts it, he'll have to relocate to the League. The only reason he hasn't already said yes is that he takes his responsibilities as a member of the old Liberal Party seriously, and he's extremely unhappy with the way New Kiev and the party leadership have decided to play fast and loose with their principles in the name of political advantage. According to my sources, which include the gentleman in question, he and his family could certainly use the additional income the new position would provide, but he feels he has a moral responsibility to himself and to his constituents to stay where he is and try to prevent things from getting still worse.

'Now, if he were to accept the banking job, he'd be required to resign his seat in Parliament. High Threadmore wouldn't like that, because a majority of the borough's voters are also members of the old Liberal Party, and they're no happier with their present party leadership than he is. But under the Constitution, his resignation would automatically trigger a special election to refill his seat within a maximum of two months. That's an absolute requirement, one not even High Ridge could prevent or defer, time of war or no time of war. And if you were to register as a candidate for his seat, and if he were to give you his enthusiastic endorsement and actively campaign for you, and if your campaign strategy emphasized the fact that you've renounced one of the most prestigious peerages in the entire Star Kingdom in order to seek election as a mere commoner as a matter of principle . . .'

He shrugged, and her eyes slowly widened as she stared at him.

Chapter Nine

'No.'

Queen Elizabeth III looked into Honor's eyes and shook her head fiercely.

'Please, Elizabeth,' Honor began. 'Right now my presence is doing more harm than good. If I go home to —'

'You are home,' Elizabeth interrupted sharply, her warm mahogany face hard, and the treecat on her shoulder flattened his ears in reaction to his person's anger. That anger wasn't directed at Honor, but that made it no weaker. Worse, Honor could taste it almost as clearly as Ariel could, and for just an instant she wished she had matching ears that she could flatten in response. The whimsical thought flickered briefly through her brain, then vanished, and she drew a lung-stretching breath before she spoke again, as calmly as she could.

'That wasn't what I meant,' she said, then closed her mouth once more as Elizabeth waved one hand in a chopping-off gesture.

'I know it wasn't.' The Queen grimaced and shook her head. 'I didn't mean for it to sound that way, either,' she went on a bit contritely. 'But I don't apologize for the thought behind it. You're a Manticoran, Honor, and a peer of the realm, and you deserve one hell of a lot better than this!'