'She was frequently on the point of that separation which afterwards took place, but was prevented by the influence of the Royal Family from carrying her resolution into effect. A dinner, however, given to Louis XVIII.[77] brought matters, at last, to a conclusion; and, satisfied of a systematic intention to degrade her before the public, she then, at last, attained the reluctant assent of some of the members of the Royal Family, to her determination of finally closing her connection with the Prince, to whom, in furtherance of this decision, she never, afterwards, opened the doors of her house. Upon all former occasions, to avoid etiquette in circumstances of such delicacy as regarded her own situation with reference to the Prince, it had been customary to sit at table, without regard to rank. Upon the present occasion, this plan was to be altered, and Mrs. Fitzherbert was informed, through her friends at Court, that, at the Royal table, the individuals invited were to sit according to their rank. 'When assured of this novel arrangement, she asked the Prince, who had invited her with the rest of his company, where she was to sit. He said, "You know, Madam, you have no place." "None, Sir," she replied, "but such as you choose to give me." Upon this, she informed the Royal Family that she would not go. The Duke of York, and others, endeavoured to alter the preconcerted arrangement, but the Prince was inflexible; and, aware of the peculiar circumstances of her case, and the distressing nature of her general situation, they no longer hesitated to agree with her, that no advantage was to be obtained by further postponement of her own anxious desire to close her connection with the Prince, and to retire once more into private life. She told me, she often looked back with wonder that she had not sunk under the trials of those two years. 'Having come to this resolution, she was obliged, on the very evening, or on that which followed the Royal dinner, to attend an assembly at Devonshire House, which was the last evening she saw the Prince previously to their final separation. The Duchess of Devonshire, taking her by the arm, said to her, "You must come and see the Duke in his own room, as he is suffering from a fit of the gout, but he will be glad to see an old friend." In passing through the rooms, she saw the Prince and Lady Hertford in a _tête-à-tête_ conversation, and nearly fainted under all the impressions which then rushed upon her mind; but, taking a glass of water, she recovered, and passed on.[78]