e many monarchs or heirs to the
throne who would have suffered, as the Archduke did, Schwarzenberg's
sayings and doings.

Franz Ferdinand was on very bad terms with Aehrenthal, who easily
became abrupt and repellent. Still, there was another reason why two
such hard millstones could not grind together. I do not believe that
the many reproaches launched against Aehrenthal by the Archduke were
consequent on political differences; it was more Aehrenthal's manner
that invariably irritated the Archduke. I had occasion to read some of
Aehrenthal's letters to Franz Ferdinand which, perhaps unintentionally,
had a slight ironical flavour which made the Archduke feel he was not
being taken seriously. He was particularly sensitive in this respect.

When Aehrenthal fell ill the Archduke made unkind remarks about the
dying man, and there was great and general indignation at the want of
feeling shown by him. He represented the Emperor at the first part of
the funeral service, and afterwards received me at the Belvedere. We
were standing in the courtyard when the procession, with the hearse,
passed on the way to the station. The Archduke disappeared quickly
into a cottage close by, the windows of which looked on to the road,
and there, concealed behind the window curtain, he watched the
procession pass. He said not a word, but his eyes were full of tears.
When he saw that I noticed his emotion he turned away angrily, vexed
at having given proof of his weakness. It was just like him. He would
rather be considered hard and heartless than soft and weak, and
nothing was more repugnant to him than the idea that he had aroused
suspicion of striving to enact a touching scene. I have no doubt that
at that moment he was suffering the torture of self-reproach, and
probably suffered the more through being so reserved and unable to
give free play to his feelings.

The Archduke could be extremely gay, and possessed an exceptionally
strong sense of humour. In his happiest years he could laugh like any
youth, and carried his audience with him by his unaffected merriment.

Some years ago a German prince, who was unable to distinguish between
the numerous archdukes, came to Vienna. A dinner was given in his
honour at the Hofburg, where he was seated next to Franz Ferdinand.
Part of the programme was that he was to have gone the next morning
with the Archduke to shoot in the neighbourhood. The German prince,
who mistook the Archduke Franz Ferdinand