316 VALOIS
But they knew they were followed. On leaving Wawel, 'Capitain Lamotte'
had been unlucky enough to pass the castle chef who was returning from the
town. Nothing was said, but suspicions were aroused. Teczynski was alerted.
After much shouting and confusion the King's suite was searched, and his
absence discovered. When Teczynski set off in pursuit, with 200 horsemen and
a troop of Tartar archers, he was three hours behind. Yet he was crossing his
own estates and was gaining with every stride. Taking the shorter, more
northerly road through Liszki and Babice, he reached Oswiecim (Auschwitz) in
time to alert the Starosta. By this time, the King was in full view, galloping
across the meadows of the frontier bridge at Harmeze. As he crossed the old
dilapidated bridge, his last glimpse of his Polish kingdom was of the loyal
Starosta of Oswiecim, manfully swimming towards him in the middle of the
Vistula and shouting at the top of his voice: 'Serenissima Maiestas, cur fugis?
(Serene Majesty, why do you flee?).
Henry de Valois left Poland for France on 19 June, after a reign of 118 days.
He clearly intended to retain both his thrones. At the town of Pszczyna (Pless),
where he was caught and surrounded by his pursuers, he assured Teczynski of
his good intentions: 'Comte, mon ami, en prenant ce que Dieu me donne par
succession je ne quitte pas ce qu'il m'a acquis par election. Quand j'aurai fait ce
que j'espere, je vous reverrai, car, Dieu Merci, j'ai les epaules assez fortes pour
soutenir Tune et l'autre couronne.' In effect, it was the parting of the ways.
Teczynski returned to Cracow. Henry pressed on in to Moravia. On that first
day, he rode 72 miles without rest. But that was the end of his haste. In Vienna,
he tarried three days with the Emperor, Maximilian II. In Venice, he stayed on
to have his portrait painted by Tintoretto, and to be treated to a display at the
Arsenal where a galley was launched in his honour in the morning, and fully
fitted out by sunset. He visited the d'Este Duke in Ferrara, the saintly Carlo
Borromeo, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, and his aunt, Margaret of Savoy in
Turin. He did not cross Mont Cenis in a glass-covered litter till the end of
August. He met his mother at Bourgoin near Lyon on 5 September. It was on this
return journey that Desportes was to compose the bitter lines which so exactly
express the Frenchmen's disillusionment with the entire venture:
Adieux Pologne, adieux plaines desertes,
Toujours de neige et de glaces couvertes ...
Barbare peuple, arrogant et volage,
Vanteur, causeur, n'ayant rien que language,
Qui jour et nuit dans un poisle enferme
Pour tout plaisir se joue avec un verre,
Ronfle a la table et s'endort sur la terre,
Puis comme un Mars veut estre renomme.
Ce ne sont pas vos grand lances creusees,
Vos peaux de loups, vos armes deguisees
Ou maint plumage et maint aile s'estend,
Vos bras charnus, ny vos traints redoubtables,