174 After the Wedding

The party was successful, no one was hurt, no one was missing, the material losses were also relatively small, a few chairs, over a hundred cups... for which I had to pay. The guests from Elisabeth's side were a bit surprised by our behavior, which did not surprise me, but I didn't care about their opinion either... because in a few days we were to leave The Hague anyway.

Unfortunately, we had to wait for the wedding night, the inn that I was renting was not the best place to deflower my wife, just like the ship on which we were supposed to sail to Gdańsk.

"Elisabeth let me introduce you, Princess Katarzyna Anna Brzozowska, of the Belina coat of arms." (MC)

Since both of them will live in the same house, they had to get to know each other... it was a bit awkward, but I had no choice. The only advantage of this situation is that they could not communicate directly.

"This is my wife whom I have already told you about, Princess Elisabeth Simmern van Pallandt." (MC)

"Who is she?" (Elisabeth)

I told Katarzyna to go back to her cabin.

"I have been raising her and her brother since they were both children, her brother Piotr is now in Rome, where he studies to become a priest... for his services in fighting Protestants in the Empire, their father was awarded the title of Prince of the Reich. Unfortunately, not everything in life is as we would like it to be... the rest, as the saying goes, is history. Dropping these sad topics... How do you like your cabin? I know it is not luxurious, but we will reach Gdańsk soon." (MC)

I didn't lie in any of the words I said, I even told the truth.

"At first I couldn't get used to the rocking of the ship, now it's okay, but I'd like to be ashore. The sea is terrifying, especially at night..." (Elisabeth)

"You don't have to worry, we are close to the shore, and there are no monsters in this sea... these are just fairy tales of drunken sailors." (MC)

"In my free time I read a little about the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but what is the country really like?" (Elisabeth)

A difficult question for which I do not know the answer... my great-grandmother from a previous life always said "There is your home where there is bread". However, she did not leave during the First World War, or during the Second World War, or during the almost 50-year-long communist dictatorship. Poland or being a Pole must be a state of mind... people survived wars, forced Russification, Germanization, massacres, exiles to Siberia and slave labor... perhaps not only cockroaches will survive the nuclear war, but also Poles.

"You'll see and if you don't hate this country, you'll love it... First we will visit Gdańsk, then we will go to my palace in Warsaw, and when you get used to the atmosphere and people, we will go to Jazłowiec." (MC)

Not only do I spend my time talking to my wife, I also had to work out some things with Ossoliński. King Władysław was counting on several things and he did not get any of them, which he would probably not be pleased with.

"Jerzy, tell the King the truth. King Charles did not want an alliance, but as a gesture of goodwill he concluded trade treaties with us. As for me, you will tell him that you urged me to support the war against Sweden, but I firmly refused." (MC)

"You know he won't be happy? Even now after your wedding... it's not that Elisabeth refused his offer, but that he married the Emperor's daughter, and you married the daughter of the man who created the Protestant Union and declared war on the Emperor." (Jerzy Ossolinski)

"This is my concern, you do as I told you... the diplomatic mission ended with a partial success, and convincing me with a failure. Nothing more, nothing less." (MC)

At the beginning of October, we reached Gdańsk. After renting the inn, I went to the house of Graf Ferber, which unfortunately I did not find, as Graf's servants told me, he spent the evening at the Artus Court... which was a defacto club for wealthy merchants and officials, but without whores. Having no other choice, I had to go there.

"You cannot enter, the Artus Court can only be visited by merchants and city councilors." (Doorman)

"Look at me, do I look like a craftsman, innkeeper or a salaried worker? Don't answer that was a rhetorical question. Let me in or bring Graf Ferber here, tell him that Hetman Jazłowiecki is waiting." (MC)

I guess the task I entrusted to him exceeded the computational capabilities of his brain, because it crashed like an old PC... after a few seconds he recovered, began to apologize to me and quickly ran inside.

Within five minutes the doorman came back and said I could go inside. I found Graf Ferber on the first floor in the company of several other wealthy residents of Gdańsk. After a short greeting and a few polite words, I let him know that I wanted to talk face to face, without any witnesses.

"Prince a lot happened under your absence..."

"About that later, now more important things. Information is money. You are the first to know about it, we signed trade pacts with the English..." (MC)

I told Graf all the details and also mentioned that in a few weeks time, twenty new ships for my fleet will arrive in Gdańsk.

"This is very good news, I'll take care of it tomorrow morning." (Graf Ferber)

"Well, how's the casino?" (MC)

"It is profitable, officially gambling is forbidden, but there are ways to get around it. Especially since the whole wealthy elite of Gdansk likes to play cards or dice." (Graf Ferber)

"As for my share of the casino profits, allocate these funds to training and recruiting new sailors, and for further profits, create several Polish schools in Gdansk." (MC)

We also talked about other various topics, mainly related to gossip and politics, I also asked Graf to hire a good goldsmith on my behalf in a few months and send him to Jazłowiec.

"Prince, there is one more thing. Jan Kazimierz, the king's brother, was arrested in France." (Graf Ferber)

Fuck, I completely forgot about this event. The French, in exchange for his release, will force the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth not to take hostile actions against the Kingdom of France. During this time, Jan Kazimierz will also meet and will have an affair with Princess Maria Gonzaga, the future wife of King Władysław, and after his death, wife of Jan Kazimierz.

I must admit that the French played it beautifully... their "puppet" will be the wife of two Polish kings.