she refuse to be guided by my advice,
or adopt any resolutions inimical to the interests of the King."

It would have been unreasonable to require more, and with a thrill of
pleasure to which she had been long a stranger, the beguiled Queen
learnt that the Bishop of Lucon-Richelieu had received the royal
permission to devote himself to her fallen fortunes. This was, indeed,
more than she had ever ventured to hope, for she was capable of
appreciating to the utmost the talents of the individual who thus, as
she fondly believed, sacrificed his own interests to her necessities;
and she consequently lost no time in making him the medium of her
communications with the King. Before her departure she was anxious to
secure such terms as might tend, in some degree, to diminish the
bitterness of her exile; and she accordingly availed herself of the
services of her new adherent to convey her wishes to Louis. These were
that she might be permitted to reside for some days at Blois, until the
castle of Moulins, which had been uninhabited for a considerable time,
could be prepared for her reception; that she might be informed of the
number and identity of those who would be allowed to follow her in her
retreat; that she might retain unlimited authority in the place of her
residence; that she should be immediately informed whether it were the
pleasure of the King that she should be left in possession of the whole
of her revenues, or restricted in her income, in order that she might be
prepared to regulate the expenses of her household accordingly; and,
finally, that her son would accord her an interview before her
departure.

In reply to these demands, Louis, after having conferred with his
favourite, replied that, had circumstances permitted such a measure, he
should not, during the last few days, have deprived himself of the
happiness of her society, of which he had deeply felt the privation; but
that since it was her wish to retire from the Court, she was at perfect
liberty to reside at Moulins, or in any other city which she thought
proper to select, and to include in her suite all the individuals whom
she might be desirous of retaining about her person: that she was fully
authorized to exert the most absolute authority, not only in the city,
but throughout the province in which it was situated; and that so far
from seeking to diminish her resources, although they greatly exceeded
those of any previous Queen-Dowager of France,[303]