The negotiation had been conducted by d’Eon with great rapidity and genuine skill; the terms were relatively moderate; and there was every indication that the King’s ratification and that of the interested family would not be long in forthcoming. Such, however, was far from being the case—either because Madame du Barry did not desire to employ the services of the Comte de Broglie, whom she particularly disliked, and whose assistance had been sought without her consent; or, more probably perhaps, because she scorned to think her reputation at the mercy of these scandalous disclosures. Less anxious about public opinion than were her own courtiers, “she appeared to be easy about a matter which should have concerned her so much,” and when the conditions obtained by d’Eon were submitted to her she replied somewhat evasively, “that they must be considered.” The matter was never “discussed more thoroughly.” The King shared the favourite’s indifference to that which concerned himself personally, and deemed, with like good sense, that it was best not to trouble oneself about slanders which threatened to increase in proportion to the importance attached to them by the people concerned. Accordingly he wrote to the Comte de Broglie: “This is not the first time I have been abused in like fashion; they are the masters, I do not hide that from myself. Surely, they can only repeat what has been said about the du Barry family. It is for them to do as they choose, and I will fall in with their views.” This note throws no new light on Louis XV.’s character; but it is not one of the least striking testimonies of the innate unconscientiousness and the complete lack of moral feeling in a monarch otherwise full of shrewdness and good sense. A few days later, the Comte de Broglie received a letter from the King ordering him to suspend the negotiations begun by d’Eon.