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286
ON THE EVE OF WAR [chap. xvr.
One of my colleagues had already established
himself and his family at Nynas, a picturesque seaside
place, where I and his other colleagues often visited him.
On the 28th June we were expecting some members of
the Legation who had just been to Nynas for the day
to come and spend the evening with us. Towards
eleven o’clock they came in very much upset : " Do you
know, Monsieur, what has just happened ? The
Arch-Duke, the Austrian Heir, and his wife have been
assassinated at Serajevo. Here is the telegraphic report
that is being sold in the streets."
"This is most serious," I replied.
" But perhaps," hazarded one of these gentlemen, " it
may be all for the best ? Every one said that the late
Francis Ferdinand was a warm partisan of war. If this
is true, his death might increase the chances of peace."
"That is possible," I replied; "but in the first place
murder is murder, that is to say a revolting thing;
and then the occurrence at Serajevo might increase the
displeasure of the Central Empires against the Serbians
—and against us, their natural protectors—and might set
a match to the train."
However, during the days that followed, these
apprehensions hardly appeared to be justified. In Stockholm,
as everywhere else, we assisted at the Requiem Mass
to the memory of the Arch-Duke and his unfortunate
wife. There was much mention in the newspapers of
the funeral rites of the murdered couple and of the
intentionally simple character that the Court of Vienna
gave to these rites. Then one heard—to the intense
satisfaction of the whole world—that this mournful event did
not prevent the Emperor William taking his usual cruise
in the Norwegian Fjords, and that he was just starting.
In short, everything seemed to have calmed down.
A few days later, I went again to Malmo, whither
King Gustaf V. came for the first time since his
recovery, to meet the King of Denmark. The weather
was fine and hot; the festivities in the King’s honour
were marked by great cordiality. I saw my German
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