Memoir of Count Franz von
Harrach
As the car quickly reversed, a thin stream
of blood spurted from His Highness's mouth onto my right check. As I was pulling out my handkerchief to wipe the blood
away from his mouth, the Duchess cried out to him, "For God's sake! What has happened to you?"
At that she slid off the seat and lay on the floor of the car, with her
face between his knees.
I had no idea that she too
was hit and thought she had simply fainted with fright. Then I heard His Imperial Highness say, "Sophie, Sophie,
don't die. Stay alive for the children!"
At that, I seized the Archduke by the collar of his uniform, to stop his head dropping forward and asked him if he was
in great pain. He answered me quite distinctly, "It is nothing!"
His face began to twist somewhat but he went on repeating, six or seven times, ever more faintly
as he gradually lost consciousness, "It's nothing!"
Then came a brief pause followed by a convulsive rattle in his throat, caused by a loss of blood. This ceased on
arrival at the governor's residence.
The two
unconscious bodies were carried into the building where their death was soon established.