The setting sun had completely vanished below the horizon.
In Schonbrunn Palace, Talleyrand ostentatiously displayed indignation, but inside he was smugly pleased as he left the grand gallery hall with Leopold II for the evening banquet.
Before coming to Vienna, his instructions from the Crown Prince had been to use this fraudulent order incident to propose that Austria compensate by adopting the French franc for part of the trade in the Southern Netherlands.
Yet with his eloquence, he had not only secured the right to settle with French francs in the Southern Netherlands but also included Tuscany in the arrangement—The Grand Duke of Tuscany was Leopold II's son, a vassal of Austria, and would certainly follow the arrangements here.
Moreover, these regions would lower tariffs on French iron goods, paper products, and wines for one year.
