In fact, Viscount Stratford had done all this on his own initiative. Reshid Pasha wouldn't have dared to order the Austrian staff to leave.
The former, however, was used to throwing his weight around. As a diplomat from the world's foremost power, he believed he was entitled to throw his authority about. The more arrogant the British became, the more deferential and obedient the other side grew.
From North America to the Far East, this tactic had never failed. It was also the British diplomats' favorite trick: an intimidating show of force.
This time, though, the results seemed a little odd. The Austrian Empire's Foreign Ministry hadn't sent anyone to negotiate. Instead, the army had surrounded the place so thoroughly that not even a drop of water could get through.
Viscount Stratford and most of the senior members of the British delegation had seen plenty in their day. They carried on eating and resting as usual; after all, London and Vienna were in different time zones.
Reshid Pasha, however, was far less composed. The footsteps outside the fence left him so restless he could barely sit still, and the occasional clang of a triangle bell made him feel as if he were back on the battlefield.
He woke from dreams countless times. Even when he went to the window, he felt as if countless pairs of eyes were watching him, leaving his concubines full of complaints.
All he could do was curse inwardly.
"Foolish women! Can't you see we're surrounded by danger?"
If even the ambassador himself looked so uneasy, it went without saying that the other officials and attendants were even more frightened.
Austria and the Ottoman Empire were hereditary enemies, so the latter feared the former might poison them—or simply send men storming in to slaughter them all.