183 Above the Coffin

Two months later, the funeral of Tomasz Zamoyski took place, to gain the favor of my aunt and my cousin Jan, I gave a beautiful speech over my uncle's coffin, of course it was another plagiarism... and I also gave a small bag of earth from Jerusalem.

"Your father was a great man, we were not only a family, but we were also united by a shared vision about the future of this country... but now it does not matter anymore... Make him proud of you, and if you need something always you can count on me." (MC)

The boy could hardly hold back his tears.

"The same applies to you, aunt. If you have any problems, let me know. I will be in Warsaw for a few more months, and then I will return to Jazłowiec." (MC)

In order to better control the boy, I also need to control his mother, which shouldn't be difficult... The funeral was also an opportunity to meet Gryzelda and her husband, who thanked me for sending prisoners. After the funeral, me and Elisabeth returned to our palace in Warsaw and our lives slowed down again.

Everything was organized and planned, we went to the theater three times a week, I taught Elisabeth Polish every day... and after a horse was sent from stud in Lesser Poland for my wife, I started teaching her how to ride. Apart from that, Elisabeth started helping me with the newspaper, it was not much help, but I didn't have to write all the articles myself.

Her texts mainly focused on philosophy, natural history, astronomy and broadly understood science... she also exchanged correspondence with some of the well-known scientists and scholars of this era... it was even funny when I wrote letters to them, my name was an obstacle, well, not so much my name as infamy which accompanied my name... and I couldn't hold it against anyone, my reputation was well deserved.

Wroński managed to buy a small piece of land, three kilometers from Warsaw. I was going to build a track for horse racing and equestrian competitions there. I had several reasons for this, apart from the obvious ones like gambling and entertainment, there were other less obvious reasons as well... Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a cavalry country, but too much emphasis was placed on heavy cavalry, instead of fast and agile horsemen such as lancers or dragoons... perhaps horse racing and equestrianism helps people see the value of light cavalry... but despite the simplicity in design and construction, it will have to wait until spring.

My article a few months ago on the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth also gained fame, and had as many opponents as supporters. The division was easily noticeable, the nobility with lands in the east, the Orthodox people and the Cossacks expressed their support for this idea... Catholics were the main bastion of resistance. I was not discouraged by this, I even expected resistance, especially from Catholic clergy and the Catholic population ... for me the most important thing was that the seed was sown.

A new prototype of the weapon was also delivered from Tarnów, it was the prototype and protoplast of the Nock Volley Gun that I knew from history, and unfortunately it had the same disadvantages as the original. On my first shot... I got my hair burnt and almost a dislocated shoulder. I expected a strong kick, but firing seven lead bullets at once with nearly 19 grams of gunpowder... I could only compare it to being kicked in the balls by a horse... The weapon was too heavy, it took too long to load and the recoil was too powerful, its only advantage was firing seven barrels at the incoming enemy could wreak havoc in his ranks... but despite its flaws, I was satisfied with the effect, my gunsmiths were able to make a bastardized version of Nock's Volley Gun and Puckle Gun, only on the basis of short descriptions and a few drawings... maybe they will be ready to implement some more modern projects like the Prussian needle gun or the French Chassepot.

With the onset of April and the end of winter, the time has come to go to Jazłowiec. Elisabeth regretted that we had to leave the capital, she would probably miss the entertainment provided by the big city, but I convinced her to treat it as an adventure... twenty days later we were there.

"The servants will show you the castle and take all our things inside... I will come in a few or several minutes, I have to talk to someone." (MC)

"Where are you going?" (Elisabeth)

"To the family crypt, I have to tell my parents that I got married." (MC)

"Maybe I'll go with you... I know they're dead, but I'd like to show my respect." (Elisabeth)

"Maybe another time, I don't want you to start your stay in Jazłowiec from visiting the cemetery." (MC)

Without waiting for her answer, I went to the church where the Jazłowiecki family's crypt was located.

After a few moments, I was there, went downstairs and opened the metal door... I felt an unpleasant smell and cold.

I passed a few catafalques on which stood the metal coffins of Kowalski, my uncles, aunts, grandparents and my parents. I stopped only at the coffin where Sveta was resting.

"Hi Beautiful, I haven't been here for a long time... Many things have happened, but more on that in a moment. As far as I know, Piotr is doing quite well in Rome, because of the distance we don't write to each other too often, sometimes two or three letters a year. Katarzyna... she will tell you what's going on with her, as far as I know, she will probably come here soon. I will probably surprise you with it, but I got married... no, it's not love, it's politics. Elisabeth, because that is her name, we have a lot in common, I even liked her... but I'm going to hurt her, cause her a lot of pain... I don't even know why I'm telling you this..." (MC)