Anne-Marie Louise d'Orléans, the daughter of Jean-Baptiste Gaston, Duc d'Orléans, Louis XIII's brother, had loved Lauzun, the sunny, fun-loving Gascon, for all of her adult life. But her cousin the King would not approve of their marriage, leaving her to marinate in the title of La Grande Mademoiselle, for she would not have another. The tall, heavyset woman, a gentle and friendly sort, glowed on the arm of her heart's desire. Péguilin, as his friends called him, was a minor nobleman but a highly decorated soldier and a favorite of Louis XIV. Most surmised his relatively low status was the cause for the King's refusal.
Jeanne watched the couple greet a circle of guests of a like age or older, shocked at the prestigious people in attendance. Madame de Scudéry, now well into her seventies,
