The concert was still underway. Johann Strauss's faintly melancholy melody suited Nicholas I's mood perfectly. In truth, he had had many choices, yet in the end he chose what he believed was the shortcut.
In fact, Nicholas I could never give up Constantinople, so after hesitating only briefly, he spoke again.
"What does the Austrian Empire want?"
Franz shook his head, but he could now be certain of one thing: Nicholas I would never abandon the notion of going to war.
"What the Austrian Empire needs is time. Going to war now cannot ensure victory. For the Austrian Empire as it stands, failure to win is defeat."
Nicholas I understood this as well. After all, it was unlikely that Britain's retaliation would strike directly at the homelands of the two nations; thus, Austria's overseas territories would bear the full brunt of it.
And by Nicholas I's reckoning, Russia simply could not offer enough to tempt Austria.
"Then what would it take for you to join the war?"
"Why should the Austrian Empire enter the war directly?"
Franz countered.
Silence descended over the private box.
No one knew what the two men discussed in the end. They only knew that Franz did not give a speech after the Vienna New Year's Concert had ended.
Empress Olga delivered it in his stead. Franz had ultimately missed this grand occasion.
Nicholas I, meanwhile, returned to Saint Petersburg without a sound.
In truth, aside from Nicholas I, no other monarch at this time would have dared undertake a personal visit like this.
Nicholas I's arrival had brought Franz more fright than delight. Everything had happened far too hastily.
Still, a weight had been lifted from Franz's heart. Nicholas I had agreed that the Austrian Empire would temporarily remain in a state of appeasement.
This