‘You are too subtle, M. V——,’ he said coldly. ‘I have no doubt that you know perfectly well that it is the young Archduke Karl whom the Emperor has chosen to succeed him.’
I thought it better to be suspected of subtlety than nescience, and apologised.
‘I ought not to have spoken. I beg your Excellency to continue.’
‘What I am going to ask you to do may sound rather extraordinary. I want you to go to Vienna, see his Majesty, of course without letting him know that you have been in communication with me, and tell him that you suspect the Russian Government is playing him false. Then persuade him to employ you to find out what is in the wind.’
I stared at M. Witte in some bewilderment. Then I answered cautiously—
‘Do I understand you, sir, to propose that I am really to enter the service of the Emperor? Or am I to be your agent in the business?’
‘I want you to do both,’ was the answer.
‘I am to deceive the Emperor, it appears?’ I said with rising indignation.
‘Not in the least. You will accept his commission to ascertain the secret intentions and purposes of the Government of Russia, and you will execute that commission exactly as if you and I had never held this conversation.’
‘M. Witte, I must beg you to be plain with me. I never consent to act in the dark. What is your true motive in making this strange proposal to me?’