ssieurs
de Breteuil and de Calonne were instructed to treat with the Duc d'Orleans
for the purchase of St. Cloud; at first they hoped to be able to conclude
the business by a mere exchange. The value of the Chateau de Choisy, de
la Muette, and a forest was equivalent to the sum demanded by the House of
Orleans; and in the exchange which the Queen expected she only saw a
saving to be made instead of an increase of expense. By this arrangement
the government of Choisy, in the hands of the Duc de Coigny, and that of
La Muette, in the hands of the Marechal de Soubise, would be suppressed.
At the same time the two concierges, and all the servants employed in
these two royal houses, would be reduced; but while the treaty was going
forward Messieurs de Breteuil and de Calonne gave up the point of
exchange, and some millions in cash were substituted for Choisy and La
Muette.

The Queen advised the King to give her St. Cloud, as a means of avoiding
the establishment of a governor; her plan being to have merely a concierge
there, by which means the governor's expenses would be saved. The King
agreed, and St. Cloud was purchased for the Queen. She provided the same
liveries for the porters at the gates and servants at the chateau as for
those at Trianon. The concierge at the latter place had put up some
regulations for the household, headed, "By order of the Queen." The same
thing was done at St. Cloud. The Queen's livery at the door of a palace
where it was expected none but that of the King would be seen, and the
words "By order of the Queen" at the head of the printed papers pasted
near the iron gates, caused a great sensation, and produced a very
unfortunate effect, not only among the common people, but also among
persons of a superior class. They saw in it an attack upon the customs of
monarchy, and customs are nearly equal to laws. The Queen heard of this,
but she thought that her dignity would be compromised if she made any
change in the form of these regulations, though they might have been
altogether superseded without inconvenience. "My name is not out of
place," said she, "in gardens belonging to myself; I may give orders there
without infringing on the rights of the State." This was her only answer
to the representations which a few faithful servants ventured to make on
the subject. The discontent of the Parisians on this occasion probably
induced M. d'Espremenil, upon the first troubles about the Parliament,