The day on which the King announced that he gave his consent to the convocation of the States General, the Queen left the public dinner, and placed herself in the recess of the first window of her bedchamber, with her face towards the garden.  Her chief butler followed her, to present her coffee, which she usually took standing, as she was about to leave the table.  She beckoned to me to come close to her.  The King was engaged in conversation with some one in his room.  When the attendant had served her he retired; and she addressed me, with the cup still in her hand:  “Great Heavens! what fatal news goes forth this day!  The King assents to the convocation of the States General.”  Then she added, raising her eyes to heaven, “I dread it; this important event is a first fatal signal of discord in France.”  She cast her eyes down, they were filled with tears.  She could not take the remainder of her coffee, but handed me the cup, and went to join the King.  In the evening, when she was alone with me, she spoke only of this momentous decision.  “It is the Parliament,” said she, “that has compelled the King to have recourse to a measure long considered fatal to the repose of the kingdom.  These gentlemen wish to restrain the power of the King; but they give a great shock to the authority of which they make so bad a use, and they will bring on their own destruction.”

The double representation granted to the Tiers Etat was now the chief topic of conversation.  The Queen favoured this plan, to which the King had agreed; she thought the hope of obtaining ecclesiastical favours would secure the clergy of the second order, and that M. Necker was sure to have the same degree of influence over the lawyers, and other people of that class comprised in the Tiers Dat.  The Comte d’Artois, holding the contrary opinion, presented a memorial in the names of himself and several princes of the blood to the King against the double representation.  The Queen was displeased with him for this; her confidential advisers infused into her apprehensions that the Prince was made the tool of a party; but his conduct was approved of by Madame de Polignac’s circle, which the Queen thenceforward only frequented to avoid the appearance of a change in her habits.  She almost always returned unhappy; she was treated with the profound respect due to a queen, but the devotion of friendship had vanished, to make way for the coldness of etiquette, which wounded her deeply.  The alienation between her and the Comte Artois was also very painful to her, for she had loved him almost as tenderly as if he had been her own brother.

The opening of the States General took place on the 4th of May, 1789.  The Queen on that occasion appeared for the last time in her life in regal magnificence.  During the procession some low women, seeing the Queen pass, cried out “Vive le Duc d’ Orleans!” in so threatening a manner that she nearly fainted.  She was obliged to be supported, and those about her were afraid it would be necessary to stop the procession.  The Queen, however, recovered herself, and much regretted that she had not been able to command more presence of mind.