Talleyrand immediately altered his plan to meet Franz II directly. He did not make a public appearance, but instead gathered information through his network in Vienna, and then reported the situation to Paris via the Sharp Signal Tower in Baden.
Six days later, he received the latest orders from the Crown Prince and promptly summoned the "wealthy merchant" Schulmeister — the top agent of the Security Bureau in Austria.
...
In Franz II's study, the Austrian Foreign Minister, young Kobutsel, was eloquently speaking:
"...In some respects, the British are correct. If we continue to exhaust ourselves in Silesia, the French will be the biggest beneficiaries.
"We may not be able to reclaim Italy for another decade."
