They were sitting at the table next to mine in the restaurant and were speaking French quite freely and openly.

They appeared to be on good terms with the Russian Ambassador and were discussing the impending visit of the Tsar to Constanza.

I discovered later that they were officers in mufti.

They agreed that the Emperor Francis Joseph could not live very much longer, and that when his death occurred and a new ruler came to the throne It would be a favourable moment for Russia to declare war on us.
They were evidently exponents of the "loyal" tendency that aimed at declaring war on us without a preceding murder; and I readily believe that the majority of the men in Petersburg who were eager for war held the same view..