17. Barante, Lettres Et Instructions De Louis XVIII., xcvi.

Already the chamber of the third estate had declared itself the national assembly. M. Necker then felt the necessity of abandoning the reserve that he had shown and of causing the royal authority to take a part in the solution of the problems in dispute between the nobility and the third estate, and he decided even to lay the foundations of a constitution. It was with the preliminary consent of the king that he occupied himself with this matter; it was to be definitely adopted at Marly. Everything at that time was done in such haste that it was in the carriage, on the way from Versailles to Marly, that M. Necker communicated to M. de Saint-Priest and M. de Luzerne the propositions that the council was to consider. Before it began, the queen wished to see M. Necker. He found her with her brothers. His work had been shown to them. All made a great effort to induce him not to present his project. He was immovable.