Von G----, in spite of his scrupulous care to avoid incriminating
evidence of complicity with Princess M----, soon discovered the danger
of "running with the hare and hunting with the hounds," and accordingly
made his choice. I strongly suspect that pressure was brought to bear
upon him and that, in order not to lose his post, and at the same time
to gain favour at Court, he was obliged to give his assistance to the
Hapsburg and Hoetzendorf parties, which had made up their minds to
punish severely the man who had dared to turn an Archduchess from her
duties and to set military laws at defiance. So he entered without
delay on his double game.
On the one hand, as the friend of Princess M----, he assured Seilern,
through Baron A----, of his earnest desire to assist him in high flight
by procuring him the means of leaving for America. But, on the other,
this hypocritical diplomatist set to work to devise a plan for enticing
him on to Austrian soil--that is to say, on to premises which, having
been rented at Lucerne by the Austrian Legation, would be considered
as benefiting, in the eyes of the Swiss authorities, by the valuable
privilege of ex-territoriality. A plan of this duplicity was truly
after the heart of such a man. If successfully carried out, he knew it
would inevitably lead to him being regarded as an Austrian diplomat _de
la meilleure race_--as he himself would have expressed it.
I must now introduce to you a new character, a sincere friend of Count
Seilern--an Englishman, Professor S----, who, in ignorance of Count
von G----'s duplicity, and responding solely to the generosity of his
heart, unknowingly lent himself to the plot which was on foot. Before
he is actually brought upon the scene, however, let me explain that von
G---- had rented, at Lucerne, the annex of an hotel, where, a short
time afterwards, Count von Bülow was to install his offices. Coinciding
with this, the Archduchess Valeria's brother, who, by the way, is
completely under the influence of the Court, arrived and took up his
quarters at the hotel in question.
Von G----, still professing to be the friend of all parties, then
transmitted to Count Seilern, through his English friend and professor,
an invitation to come to Lucerne for a short time, so as to receive
the passports necessary for traveling without let or hindrance to the
United States.
Thereupon the Archduchess Valeria, Count Seilern, and their friend
and counsellor, Baron A----, left for that resort, and took up their
residence at an hotel. The morning after their arrival, Seilern was
requested to come to the annex rented by the Austro-Hungarian Legation.
He was received there by the Minister Plenipotentiary, Count von G----,
the Archduchess Valeria's brother, the military attaché von E----, and
a number of other unknown individuals, who, in reality, were members of
the secret police of Vienna.
What happened? You may judge from what follows.
The same day, his English friend, Professor S----, quietly continuing
his work at Zurich, and under the impression that he would be hearing
in a few days of the safe departure of the Count and Archduchess
for the United States, thanks to the "noble support" of the
Austro-Hungarian Minister, received a telegram worded as follows: "Come
to Lucerne immediately."
At the railway station of the celebrated resort he was met by two
agents of the Austrian secret police, who begged him, on behalf of
Count von G----, to accompany them to the annex of the hotel rented by
the Legation. On the way they explained that Count von G---- had sent
for him "to see his friend, who had had an accident." That was all the
information he could extract from them.
Mounting to the first floor, a door was thrown open before him. In the
middle of the room he saw a bed and on it a body--that of the hapless
Count Seilern, who had been _condemned to death and executed_ (though
his decease was attributed in the newspapers to suicide) for having
loved an Austrian Princess and threatened General von Hoetzendorf!
As in the case of the Archduke Rudolf of Hapsburg, at Mayerling, the
body of the man who dared to "play with fire" was covered up to the
neck with white cloth, with flowers strewn all over his deathbed.
This was in January, 1915.
Thus, the tradition of assassination is perpetuated from one end to the
other of the reign of the sinister Emperor who sold the independence
of his kingdom to William II. of Germany. The victims change, but the
methods remain the same. Whosoever is considered guilty of an offence
against the "dignity" or "honour" of the Hapsburgs must die, unless he
or she consents to be declared insane. Crime follows crime, and the
family which, in the eyes of the aged Emperor Francis Joseph himself,
is "doomed to be tracked by tragedy" knows, as in the Middle Ages, but
one argument against its enemies--the knife and the bullet.
But what of the Archduchess Valeria? The last news I heard of her was
to the effect that, half-demented by the shock she sustained, she lay
for months between life and death. On recovering, she turned her back
for ever on the fashionable life of Vienna, and withdrew to one of her
estates in the country, where she seeks what consolation she can find
in charitable work in her religion.