Dennis Wheatley - Duke de Richleau 07 (61 page)

In spite of half-hearted
attempts to keep the conversation off the crisis, it crept back to it every few
moments, and the party proved anything but a gay one. As the Austrians had got
just what they wanted, De Richleau was somewhat puzzled at this new atmosphere
of depression, and it was not until the ladies had withdrawn that he learned
the reason for it. Apparently they were now afraid that the Kaiser meant to let
them down. It was true that he had rejected Sir Edward Grey’s plea, that
Germany should participate in a Council of the Great Powers to mediate on the
Austro-Serbian dispute, with the abrupt reply that he would ‘not consent to
having his ally dragged before the bar of nations’; but from Austria’s point of
view his attitude towards Russia was far from satisfactory. Not only had he
allowed the Russians to mobilize on the Austrian frontier without taking any
adequate counter measures; he was known to be exchanging frantic personal
telegrams with the Czar, in which both monarchs were begging one another to
restrain the war-like ardour of their peoples and refrain from all measures
likely to precipitate hostilities.

Now that Austria-Hungary
was actually at war with a small but virile State and likely soon to be
attacked by a far more powerful one, everybody had much more important things
to think about than the possibility that a young Archduchess was having a love
affair with one of the officers of her regiment. So, after dinner, as the party
consisted of only eight people, the Duke was able to enjoy a happy hour’s tête-à-tête
with his beloved without likelihood of arousing unwelcome ideas in the mind of
the Mistress of her Household; and, later, Ilona boldly enlisted the Countess
to secure her more frequent meetings with him during these last few precious
days which they now feared were all that were left to them.

Since the previous
Saturday all the ladies of the Imperial circle had begun to busy themselves
with war charities, so Ilona called her hostess over to the corner of the
drawing-room, where she was sitting with De Richleau, and suggested to her that
he might be most helpful to them if they asked him to assist them in organizing
some of their new societies. The Countess thought the idea an excellent one and
the Duke naturally assented; so the lovers were able to make appointments which
would enable them to attend committees together, ensuring several hours in one
another’s company on each of the next few days.

De Richleau was overjoyed
at the success of her stratagem as, far from his ardour for her abating, it
seemed to increase every time he saw her. He had again thrust the awful idea of
their parting into the back of his mind, and was now living in the present,
allowing her smiles to go to his head like wine. But, madly as he loved her and
fond as he was of his Austrian and Hungarian friends, on the way home he could
not help reflecting with cynical amusement that it would serve Berchtold, von
Hötzendorf and Co. right if they now found themselves up against Russia as well
as Serbia, without German support.

Friday the 31st proved to
be the day of highest tension yet in Vienna. It was expected that at any hour
the Russian advance guards would attempt to invade the northern provinces of
the Dual Monarchy and the German attitude still remained uncertain. But when De
Richleau met Ilona at de Lazalo’s in the afternoon she had just received news
that at least held out a possibility of rescuing Austria from her precarious
situation. For some reason, as yet unknown, the previous evening the Czar had
issued a new
ukase
ordering general mobilization. Surely, with Russian reservists flocking to the
colours within a dozen miles of the Prussian frontier, the Kaiser must call his
people to arms. Yet he had now made it very clear to Vienna that, in view of
the Serbians’ submissive reply to the Austrian ultimatum, he considered that
the Dual Monarchy had not been justified in starting a war. If, too, his
timidity got the better of his impulsiveness, he would still shrink from
allowing his Generals to push him into any step which might place it beyond his
power to influence the final outcome.

August came in with
brilliant sunshine and its first day again saw Vienna’s streets filled with
cheering multitudes. The news for which all Austria-Hungary had been praying
had come through during the night. At 3.30 the previous afternoon Berlin had
sent an ultimatum to St. Petersburg declaring that, if Russia did not cease
within twelve hours every war measure against Germany and Austria-Hungary and
make a definite declaration to that effect, German mobilization would be
ordered. The ultimatum had been delivered at midnight, and so far there was no
news of any reply to it. But that did not trouble the Viennese. All that mattered
to them was that their ally had at last come out openly on their side, and that
the Czar must now accept the humiliation of withdrawing his troops from the
frontiers, or face the onslaught of the mighty German army side by side with
their own.

De Richleau, scanning
every paper he could find for paragraphs which might throw light on Britain’s
attitude, found several that referred to Sir Edward Grey’s tireless efforts to
keep the peace, and one which stated that the Grand Fleet had passed the
narrows of the Channel, steaming northward for the open sea, during the hours
of darkness between the 29th and 30th. An official announcement followed, that
the move was normal and must not be construed as having a war-like intent
against any power. Basically that was true, but it gave the Duke fresh cause to
admire Mr. Churchill’s tremendous awareness and grasp of strategic imperatives.
He had secured his great ships from any surprise attack by enemy submarines
while still in coastal waters; and had got them unscathed into the North Sea,
where they could dominate the Atlantic shipping routes and, at will, cut
Germany off from the outer world.

Although the Duke had no
means of knowing it then, the move was rightly interpreted by the German
Admiralty and Foreign Office. Herr von Jagow and the Kaiser took alarm;
belatedly they turned a willing ear to Sir Edward Grey’s proposals. War did not
offer so much glamour for them if Britain was coming in. On that fateful first
day of August they strove at the eleventh hour to retrieve the situation and
definitely accepted a new suggestion by Sir Edward for direct negotiations
between Austria and Russia. But the sands were running out. Mid-day came: the
time limit of twelve hours that Germany had given in her ultimatum to Russia had
expired. Still the now harassed and frightened Kaiser hesitated. Must he now
tread the slippery and terrifying path that he had so wantonly laid out for
himself? Or should he yet draw back, to stand branded by his own people as a
coward, and be humiliated before all the world? For six hours he remained
paralysed by fear, still hesitating which of the two awful courses to take.
Vanity won. The covert sneers on the faces of his Generals proved too much for
him. At 6 p.m. on 1st August he declared war on Russia.

Immediately De Richleau
learned the news, which was on the morning of the 2nd, he went to see Count
Tisza. The Hungarian received him with every mark of kindness, but said that he
could not yet release him from his parole. In Vienna it was considered
extremely improbable that Britain would come in unless France did so, and
France was maintaining an attitude of great caution. So far she had made no
pronouncement that she intended to honour her alliance with Russia, and, until
she did so, or was attacked by Germany, there was still a possibility that the
conflict might not spread to Western Europe.

The Duke protested that
Germany dared not throw her main forces against Russia with the possibility
that later, when she was fully engaged, France might succumb to the temptation
to attack her in the rear. Therefore, it was imperative to Germany to clarify
her position. She must either take on France simultaneously with Russia, or get
such guarantees from France as would render her unable to intervene later; and
it was highly improbable that suitable guarantees would be forthcoming.

“That remains to be seen,”
replied the Count. “I understand that Germany has already asked for such
guarantees in the form of a demand that France should proclaim her intention of
remaining neutral, and surrender the fortresses of Toul and Verdun as a pledge
of her neutrality.”

“To that France would
never agree!” exclaimed the Duke.

“I think you right,” the
Count nodded. “But all is not yet lost in the other theatre. In spite of the fact
that hostilities have commenced between Germany and Russia, Sir Edward Grey is
continuing his indefatigable labours to induce them to accept some form of
arbitration before a clash between their main armies can occur. If he succeeds
Germany’s demands will automatically be dropped. And even should his efforts
fail, and the war spread to France, there is still no certainty that Britain
will come in. No, Duke; in view of the intimate terms on which you have been
with so many people in Vienna, I cannot allow you to start for England yet. But
I will do so at the first moment that I consider consistent with our security.”

With that De Richleau had
to be content, and he hurried off to a committee meeting at which Ilona had
agreed to take the chair, although it was Sunday, as the matters to be
discussed were of considerable urgency. During it, she managed to slip him a
note. Much to his surprise, it told him that she was going to de Lazalo’s that
afternoon, and it was not until later he learned how she had been able to
arrange a further escape from her usual sabbath routine.

Owing to her new war
activities, she was now greatly pressed for time, and Countess Aulendorf had
said that she ought to give up her sittings. She had refused to do so as they
provided the only opportunities she had to be alone with her lover, and she
knew that he might at any day have to leave Vienna. So, on the excuse of
getting the portrait finished quickly, she had arranged for a sitting that
afternoon and every day until it was done. But when they met there, far from
allowing de Lazalo a chance to get on with the picture, she cut his work short
after a restless sitting of only a quarter of an hour and sent him with Adam
and S
á
rolta
out into the garden, in order that she and De Richleau might have longer to
delight in one another’s caresses.

As soon as they had
exchanged their first breathless kiss, she said that she had a piece of good
news for him. Greatly as Bulgaria was tempted to revenge herself on Serbia for
her defeat a year earlier, in the second Balkan war, she had decided against
taking any action for the time being. The Russians, who had strong ties with
the Bulgars, supported by the French and British ministers in Sofia, were
straining every nerve to keep Bulgaria neutral. It had become evident that this
weighty influence would restrain the Bulgarians, at least until they knew which
of the Great Powers would become involved in the conflict. In consequence, the
invitation by the Triple Alliance to Bulgaria to join it, had been politely put
aside among ‘matters requiring further consideration’, and, with it, the
project of Ilona’s marriage to Prince Boris.

For the past three weeks
that prospect had weighed heavily on them both, and, although Ilona had not
been definitely saved from it, its postponement came as an immense relief. They
recognized now that each of their meetings might be almost the last, so to have
them free of this cloud which had been hanging over their joy in one another
meant a great deal to them. Moreover, when they had to part, they would now at
least escape the added distress of knowing that he was leaving her to be
thrust, almost immediately, into the arms of a complete stranger.

Before they joined the
others in the garden, she asked him to dine with her at the palace that
evening, and added that they could make further discussion of the war charities
an excuse for his doing so.

When he arrived, he found
that the party consisted only of themselves, Adam, Sárolta and the Officer of
the Guard, a pleasant young man whom De Richleau had already met on several
occasions.

War charities were not
even mentioned: and, after dinner, in an effort to forget for an hour or so
both the world crisis and her own, Ilona suggested that they should play
blind-man’s-buff and other hilarious children’s games. Then, when time enough
had elapsed for her to give the young officer his dismissal without
impoliteness, she said she felt like a stroll in the garden. With a demure
expression, Sárolta fetched her a dark cloak and they all slipped down a back
staircase out into the moonlit grounds.

As the two couples
strolled towards the long pleached alleyways with Adam and Sárolta bringing up
the rear, she whispered to him, “Adam, dear, now that our engagement is about
to be announced we shall have lots of opportunities for kissing, but those two
poor darlings get so few, and at any moment now he may have to leave her. When
they sit down somewhere, we must separate. You take one end of the alley and I’ll
take the other, so that they can make love without any risk of being surprised.”

Count Adam agreed at
once; so with the aid of these two loyal friends Ilona and her lover spent a
blissful hour; but it could be no more as the Countess Aulendorf would be
coming on her official visit at half past eleven, to see her charge safely into
bed.