id not tend to smooth
matters in the Council of Five.

The decisive duel between Signor Orlando and Mr. Wilson was fought out
in April, and the overt acts which subsequently marked their tense
relations were but the practical consequences of that. On the historic
day each one set forth his program with a _ne varietur_ attached, and
the President of the United States gave utterance to an estimate of
Italian public opinion which astonished and pained the Italian Premier,
who, having contributed to form it, deemed himself a more competent
judge of its trend than his distinguished interlocutor. But Mr. Wilson
not only refused to alter his judgment, but announced his intention to
act upon it and issue an appeal to the Italian nation. The gist of this
document was known to M. Clemenceau and Mr. Lloyd George. It has been
alleged, and seems highly probable, that the British Premier was
throughout most anxious to bring about a workable compromise. Proposals
were therefore put forward respecting Fiume and Dalmatia, some of which
were not inacceptable to the Italians, who lodged counter-proposals
about the others. On the fate of these counter-proposals everything
depended.

On April 23d I was at the Hotel Edouard VII, the headquarters of the
Italian delegation, discussing the outlook and expecting to learn that
some agreement had been reached. In an adjoining room the members of the
delegation were sitting in conference on the burning subject, painfully
aware that time pressed, that the Damocles's sword of Mr. Wilson's
declaration hung by a thread over their heads, and that a spirit of
large compromise was indispensable. At three o'clock Mr. Lloyd George's
secretary brought the reply of the Council of Three to Italy's maximum
of concessions. Only one point remained in dispute, I was told, but that
point hinged upon Fiume, and, by a strange chance, it was not mentioned
in the reply which the secretary had just handed in. The Italian
delegation at once telephoned to the British Premier asking him to
receive the Marquis Imperiali, who, calling shortly afterward, learned
that Fiume was to be a free city and exempt from control. It was when
the marquis had just returned that I took leave of my hosts and received
the assurance that I should be informed of the result. About half an
hour later, on receipt of an urgent message, I hastened back to the
Italian headquarters, where consternation prevailed, and I learned that
hardly had the d