“Why?” asked Father George Hamilton.
“Legalities,” Dave said. “He’s using the LIC to move money from his family accounts to his personal accounts. I’m worried that it could be seen as malfeasance on the part of the LIC.”
“I don’t think so,” said Father George. “However, I will consult with the lawyers about it. Most of the monies in the LIC were provided by Prince Karl’s individual investments, which the rest of the family had no part in.”
“That’s fine. I’m just not sure that his uncles and cousins are going to see it that way,” Dave said. The board had received letters from the Vienna branch of the family, attempting to get the LIC to provide funds for friends of the family. Those requests had been passed up to Karl. Some he had approved, and others not.
“Which is why he’s keeping it quiet. It’s not so much that he fears he would lose a lawsuit, but that he doesn’t want to fight one if he can avoid it.”
* * *
Two days later, they got the lawyers’ report. What Karl wanted to do was iffy, but probably legal. The LIC was in place to give loans and provide startup capital and equipment to companies and businesses on the Liechtenstein holdings, wherever they were. Which of those companies were to receive the loans or gifts of the LIC was at the discretion of the board, under the direction of Karl von Liechtenstein. If he chose to have that money given into hands that would also benefit his future wife, well, there was no rule against it.
* * *
The Barbies set up the Dower Corporation, which would be funded by Karl out of his personal funds, then receive equipment and low interest loans from the LIC. It would be managed by the Barbies and would buy things like farms and mines on Liechtenstein holdings, and set up factories, also on Liechtenstein lands.
And in the meantime, the girls were sworn to secrecy. Not just in regard to the family, but especially in regard to Sarah.
They were in the middle of setting that up when Henry Dreeson was killed defending the synagogue in Grantville. Bill Magen, Vicky’s fiance, was shot and killed in some of the distracting riots and it seemed to Vicky that no one really noticed in all the concern over Mayor Dreeson.
Twenty-five Miles North of Vienna
Sonny Fortney took a drink of small beer and returned the canteen to his belt. It was a cold day, but he was working up a sweat in spite of the weather. There were several hundred people here and there were four more camps spread out like beads, each one using Fresno scrapers to build a roadbed to the next and the ones back toward Vienna with wagon after wagon of crushed rock and coal tar to pave the raised mound. Still, it was going incredibly slowly because the ground was frozen about half the time. In engineering terms, the smart thing to do would be to wait till spring. But people needed the work now, and if they waited till spring some of those people would have starved to death in the meantime. Sonny hoped that Prince Liechtenstein came through, because if he didn’t they were going to have to shut down.
Vienna
“Well, the LIC sent the money,” Moses Abrabanel said, smiling.
“I figured they would,” said Dana Fortney. “But we still aren’t going to be able to start the rail line. Not enough iron, and it will be four months before the steel mill in Linz will be running.”
“I was given to understand it was going to use wooden rails.”
“It is. In fact, we’re going to use dowels instead of nails and spikes whenever we can. But we still can’t avoid using steel for some things. And we need good steel, because to get the same strength from iron would take twice as much.
“No. . What we’re going to have at first is simply a good road. That, we can do with just Fresno scrapers and lots of labor. That by itself will allow multitrailered steam wagons. Not great, but a heck of a lot better than a mule train. Then, using the road, Sonny figures that a single wooden rail to take most of the weight of the train will let us at least double the cargo capacity. But we won’t even start that till next year at the earliest. Meanwhile, it’s just a works project. Lots of people earning salaries. Not great salaries, but salaries.”
“Well, that will help the unemployment and the level of debt your businesses have been accumulating.”
“It should,” Dana agreed, though she wasn’t at all sure that it would help enough.
Grantville, United States of Europe
Karl Eusebius paced around the room as he dictated the letter to Herr Hofer, who sat at his typewriter. These weren’t the easiest letters he had ever tried to write. First, one to the family, telling them he was engaged. Once the inimitable Herr Hofer had the letter in shorthand, he would type them out and give Karl a copy for his signature. Finally, he had the first one written and started the second. This one to Ferdinand III, the emperor of Austria-Hungary, explaining that he would like to come to Vienna for the wedding, but couldn’t do it unless he had assurances that he would be allowed to leave again.
It helped a bit that Ferdinand III was a friend, and his younger brother Leopold was a close friend.
Karl debated. Perhaps if he wrote Leopold. .
No. It had to be faced. His friend, the emperor, was probably somewhat angry that Karl had had to deal with King Albrecht of Bohemia. Hm. That might be a solution, Karl thought. Perhaps he could act as ambassador to Austria-Hungary from Bohemia. Perhaps King Albrecht might support him. . that would give him diplomatic status.
Of course, diplomats did get taken hostage. . sometimes. .
Karl stopped dictating letters and went to the telegraph office. This once, he was glad that the telegraph didn’t go to Austria. Yet.
* * *
As it happened, King Albrecht of Bohemia was quite pleased with the plan. He had good reason to want a settlement with Austria-Hungary, because he wanted a fairly small chunk of Hungary without a war. Also, he wanted to avoid having the whole issue between the USE, Saxony and Brandenburg sucking in Austria-Hungary, because they would probably be sucked right through his territory. The shortest route from Austria-Hungary to Saxony was right through Bohemia.
So he was quick enough to agree with Karl’s request, but it still took a little while to make everything official.
Magdeburg, United States of Europe
“So what do you think the chances are for hostilities to resume between Austria and Bohemia?” Mike Stearns asked his Secretary of State.
Landgrave Hermann of Hesse-Rotenburg pursed his lips thoughtfully. Now that he’d served the prime minister in this capacity for a year, Hermann was a lot more relaxed than he’d been at the beginning. Among other things, he’d learned that Stearns had no objection if one of his ministers took a bit of time to think upon a matter before expounding his opinion. He appreciated the fact, given that it suited his judicious temperament.
The truth was, Hermann hadn’t wanted to become the Secretary of State in the first place-and still wasn’t very happy with the situation. But he’d had little choice in the matter. His older half-brother Landgrave Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel was one of Gustav Adolf’s primary allies in Germany. He’d been keen to get Hermann a prominent position in the cabinet and refusing him would have been problematic.
Thankfully, Stearns had accepted the situation with good grace. He’d never been anything other than cordial in his dealings with Hermann and, as time passed, the young Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg had developed a great deal of respect for the prime minister.
There were many noblemen in the Germanies who considered the up-timers a pack of puffed-up peasants who owed their meteoric rise in status to nothing more than their mechanical skills. (Regrettable skills, to many-but hard experience had by now proven to even the most cast-iron aristocratic minds that the Americans made a huge difference when it came to war.). Hermann might have even been one of them, initially. He could no longer remember clearly what his attitude had been two or three years earlier.