"
From his place at the head of the table the iron-gray-haired
Kinderlen-Waechter rose slowly. I noticed he wore another of those
atrocious vests. Turning on his left he gazed at Churchill and
Tirpitz; his careful measuring eyes then met Moritz, an expectant,
slightly nervous figure at the other end of the table awaiting the
reply to the point he had raised. And Waechter's eyes turned from him
to Heeringen, to Haldane; then he spoke. I recall distinctly the
import of his remarks.
"Gentlemen," he said, "the point raised by General Moritz must stand,
and, of course, it needs the sanction of our respective heads. As
Lord Haldane has pointed out, it does complicate matters to some
extent. The Balkans concern Austria most; to my way of thinking it is
quite within reason to accede this point. [As I write I recall
vividly how grave they had all become. They knew what this meant--war
in the Balkans.] On all main points," said Kinderlen-Waechter, "we are
agreed. As indicated by his Imperial Majesty, the primary reason of
our meeting is to come to a tacit understanding in regard to technical
details. This we have done. It is unfortunate, however, that this
possible phase, the Balkan point, has not been gone into before. I
suggest that we adjourn, to inform our respective Governments of this
point. If necessary, we will meet again on Wednesday."
This second meeting, by the way, was not necessary, all the
Governments represented tentatively agreeing with Austria.
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