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1912]
COLONEL MERRONE
83
by M. Sazonoff. On his return, however, he seemed
somewhat disappointed. I soon learnt the reason when
I received official information on the exchange of views
which had taken place between King Ferdinand’s envoy
on one side, and M. Kokovtzoff and M. Sazonoff on the
other. These two statesmen had given Danev to
understand in a very amiable but very firm manner that we
should not, under any circumstances, allow ourselves
to be drawn into an active policy in the Balkans. The
same thing was repeated to Danev at Livadia.
I heard later that Danev had been entrusted with
another mission for King Ferdinand ; I will speak of this
further on.
After my return to Sofia and during the succeeding
summer months, I noticed the increased activity of the
Italian military attache, Colonel Merrone. During my
absence, the latter had formed a close friendship with
our military agent. In the summer these gentlemen
were already on thee-and-thou terms which evoked a
certain amount of astonishment in the Diplomatic Corps
of Sofia, for such terms are not customary between
two foreign colleagues. Through Romanowski and also
through General Fichev—a former Italian pupil—
Merrone managed to become acquainted and to be on a
friendly footing with several Bulgarian senior officers,
from whom there was much to be learnt. I am justified
in believing that Colonel Merrone—a tall, fat and jovial
Neapolitan, with a very friendly manner, but at the
same time intelligent and rather a Paul Pry—knew how
to use all these friendships, and that he ended by
knowing of the existence of the Serbo-Bulgarian agreement
and its contents. He hastened—as in honour bound—
to communicate this information to the Italian General
Staff The Italian Minister in Sofia, Count Bosdari—
as I was able to prove conclusively later—was only
initiated into the secret some time afterwards. An
intelligent man, highly educated and of very moderate
views, he did not share the enthusiasm of a certain
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