Returning XML natively in a .NET (C#) webservice

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(sb, settings);

writer.WriteStartDocument();
writer.WriteStartElement("People");

writer.WriteStartElement("Person");
writer.WriteAttributeString("Name", "Nick");
writer.WriteEndElement();

writer.WriteStartElement("Person");
writer.WriteStartAttribute("Name");
writer.WriteValue("Nick");
writer.WriteEndAttribute();
writer.WriteEndElement();

writer.WriteEndElement();
writer.WriteEndDocument();

writer.Flush();
XmlDocument xmlDocument = new XmlDocument();
xmlDocument.LoadXml(sb.ToString());
return xmlDocument;