François, entering the room, quietly approached the bed.- Anna! he whispered.She turned her head with visible effort and looked at him.- My dear...He glanced at her briefly - a fever, a damp forehead, sunken eyes, a frantic pulse. Supporting Anna's head, François forced her to take a few sips of the bitter. After drinking, she collapsed helplessly on the pillows and seemed to doze off. And he sat next to her and held his wife's thin, pale hand in his. Suddenly Anna opened her eyes and whispered:- Will you remember me? At least occasionally?François broke into a cold sweat at these words.- Come on, Anna, it's just a fever. Everything will be all right, you'll see, dear.Dr. Weklera entered with quick steps, followed by the midwife. After saying hello, he examined the patient and, calling François aside, shook his head ruefully.- Fever, your grace. She is so weak that even bloodletting is dangerous. Let's trust in the help of the Lord. I'll be here until the morning.François re

Events began to develop four days after the wedding. On the morning of August 22, an assassination attempt was made on Coligny. It was only by a lucky chance that the admiral survived, but the attacker wounded him in the arm and shot off his finger. The indignant Protestants began to arm themselves, took under guard the house of Coligny and the surrounding streets. Threats of revenge were heard from everywhere. The townspeople, on the contrary, rejoiced at the attack on the head of the Huguenots and regretted that he had survived. Paris buzzed like a disturbed beehive.In the evening of the next day, Francois was walking in the Tuileries Garden, next to which Catherine's new palace was being completed. The day before, at a reception in the Town Hall, an unusual dish was served - grated frozen fruits with milk, which the guests liked so much that many of them ate several servings. Among them was François, but these excesses played a cruel joke on him: he had a cold in his throat, lost

The guests were greeted by a huge delegation of senators, ministers, bishops, gentry, officials, many of them came with their troops, and before entering the city, a whole army stretched out under multi-colored banners. The French froze in surprise when a company of winged hussars advanced towards them. It was the elite Polish cavalry, which had a very unusual appearance: wings of eagle feathers were attached behind the back of each rider, and spotted fur robes were thrown over the armor. The hussars rode in close ranks, their cloaks fluttered, their wings fluttered in the wind, and this spectacle made a stunning impression on the guests.After the solemn meeting, Heinrich and his retinue were escorted to Krakow. The city struck the French. Wide streets, beautiful Gothic churches, an ancient university and, of course, a huge, several times larger than the Louvre, Wawel Castle on a hill - the royal residence. Adjacent to it was the majestic Cathedral of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslas,

The baron arrived at the Wawel Castle on the morning of the fourteenth of June and, without having time to rest, was summoned to the king. Without even greeting François, whom he had not seen for two months, Heinrich handed him a letter:- Here, uncle.Romagnach picked up the paper and read:"My lord, my son. The king, your brother, has died. So many of my children have already died, and now a new misfortune has come. I pray the Lord to send me death so that I don’t have to go through this anymore. I have never experienced more pain, and comfort me only your arrival is possible. France and I are waiting for you. I need to see you in good health, because if I happen to lose you too, I will order you to bury me alive with you.Do not delay your departure from Poland and do not let them delay you, because you are needed here. I am dying of longing for you, only your presence can console me and make me forget about my loss. Loving you like no one else in the world, your mother Ekaterina."

On May 26, 1584, the execution was scheduled. François was present at her, standing in the front row and imperceptibly smiling through a lush, in the Polish fashion, mustache. The villain was stripped to the zhupan and taken to a specially built high platform. The priest hastily recited the prayer and disappeared, and instead the executioner appeared - a huge fellow in a bright red cloak with a hood and a mask - and pointed to the condemned man on the chopping block.François looked for the last time into the face of the hated gentry, hoping to see fear in his eyes. But there was no fear; Zborowski surveyed the assembled crowd with a haughty look and stepped towards the chopping block. Smiling contemptuously, he knelt down and rested his head on her. Romagnac, not looking up, looked at him in order to see with his own eyes how the killer of his friend would lose his life.The executioner, trampling next to Samuel, waved a huge ax at a sign from the steward. The crowd cheered in unison