A few under-servants and workmen continued with the pestiferous remains, and paid the last duty to their master; the surgeons directed that spirits of wine should be poured into the coffin.
The entire Court set off for Choisy at four o'clock; Mesdames the King's aunts in their private carriage, and the Princesses under tuition with the Comtesse de Marsan and the under-governesses.

The King, the Queen, Monsieur, the King's brother, Madame, and the Comte and Comtesse d'Artois went in the same carriage.

The solemn scene that had just passed before their eyes, the multiplied ideas offered to their imaginations by that which was just opening, had naturally inclined them to grief and reflection; but, by the Queen's own confession, this inclination, little suited to their age, wholly left them before they had gone half their journey; a word, drolly mangled by the Comtesse d'Artois, occasioned a general burst of laughter; and from that moment they dried their tears.
The communication between Choisy and Paris was incessant; never was a Court seen in greater agitation.

What influence will the royal aunts have,--and the Queen?
What fate is reserved for the Comtesse du Barry?
Whom will the young King choose for his ministers?
All these questions were answered in a few days.

It was determined that the King's youth required a confidential person near him; and that there should be a prime minister.