Partridge shooting opened on August 1st, and the Prince and
Billy--for the keepers were all away at their Kaders--collected some
beaters--among whom the naughty and clever Joszo, resplendent in carpet
slippers, a pair of old gaiters, and an old cartridge belt--and set
out to a melancholy half-hearted shoot, from which Billy returned in
a dismal humour. They had shot little and had thought all the time of
the men--German, Austrian, Russian, and French--who had shot with them
last year and who were now engaged in shooting one another; the Prince
had spoken all the time, too, of his friend the Grand Duke Nicholai
Nicholaievich, who had hitherto been such a charming and clever man,
but who, now that he was to lead the Russians, was nothing but a
mahogany-coloured giant; and it was a disgusting world, and how could
anybody ever be happy again....
The days that followed were very anxious. France, the newspapers said,
declared war on Germany; and Austria felt cross and shocked. How could
France declare war on any country when she was herself, as the whole
world knew, so little prepared? But there would be a revolution in
France, and Poincaré would be guillotined for rushing his country into
war like that. Oh, yes, all were agreed, nothing was surer than that
Poincaré would meet the traitor's death he deserved.... My return to
England had been planned for September, and I began to think that I
ought to try to leave at once, but this was laughed down.
"How do you propose to go, Jerry--by private balloon? For everything on
wheels is in the hands of the army at present. No, whatever happens you
must just stay with us--even if England should join in, you will easily
be home for Christmas--the war will be finished long before then. But
England won't fight, so why should we break our heads about it?"
I pointed out that treaty obligations would hardly allow Great Britain
to stand aside.
"Treaty obligations don't count any more," said the Prince; "the
Germans are in Belgium."
"Great Britain, I imagine, does not accept the German view of treaty
obligations. Can't you really see that Germany is committing a crime in
going through Belgium like that?" I asked the Prince.
"No, absolutely not, when the French were already in Belgium before
France declared war on Germany. And even supposing they were not there,
Germany would still be right in forcing her way through--it's a case
of the survival of the fittest. He's a nice fool that King of the
Belgians! He had simply to allow the Germans through, and he would have
been well paid for it by William. Old Leopold would not have been so
silly."
"There you are right," I said, "he probably would have sold his
country."
"Now, Jerry, don't be impertinent! Anything you say now will be used
against you if England declares war on us. Don't forget you're our
prisoner then."
* * * * *
When the declaration of war did come it sobered us somewhat! The
Princess quickly recovered and said----
"Why do you worry about it, Jerry? It's not a matter between you and
me, but between Grey and Berchtold--let them scratch each other's eyes
out if they like. After all, I'm not sure that I'm so angry with them,
for it means that now you've got to remain here indefinitely--nolens
volens. I am very glad, for it will be fearfully dull here without our
usual big shooting parties. And now come and play bridge."
That was the way in which the Princess looked at it all the time. It
was impossible for me to persuade her that to have an enemy alien
in the house might be very unpleasant for her: she could never see
why, though England and Germany hated each other so cordially, she
and I could not remain the good friends we had always been and live
peacefully in the same house.
* * * * *
It was very easy for us to disagree, for, after a course of the _Neue
Freie Presse_, the _Neues Wiener Tagblatt_ and the _Berliner Tagblatt_,
with the exception of myself and the servants--the majority of whom
were Slavs--the inmates of Schloss K---- were soon convinced that it
was England that had been behind the whole conflagration: that jealous
of Germany's dangerously increasing foreign trade, she sought to
cripple it by a war, and accordingly it was at England's suggestion
that Russia bribed the Serbs to assassinate the Archduke--an event
which the Entente felt would certainly force Germany's hand....
"We are not strong enough to do anything ourselves, and Germany is the
one hope of our existence. What can one do if one is so poor and so
divided as we are? Oh, but Willy will save us--a plucky dashing fellow
who will teach you all a lesson. You will shed bitter tears in England
yet."
"We shall see, when the war is over, who will laugh and who will cry,"
I would reply.