This week, Sarah and I got to dig through some French royal gossip. Francoise d’Aubigne grew up to become the mistress of King Louis XIV — or was it his morganatic wife?

The young Francoise was said to be born in a prison, but Antonia Fraser disputes that in “Love and Louis XIV” (and I will side with Fraser on pretty much anything, because I adore her). Her father was in prison for conspiracy against Richelieu, and her mother was the daughter of his jailer. Bignette, as she was called, grew up poor, but her aunt and her godmother took pity on her. She first came to Paris at 16, and it’s there that she made her mark.

A somewhat shady marriage to a much older man that may never have been consummated was Francoise’s entrée into love. Understandably, she wasn’t too impressed with the institution of marriage, but being Madame Scarron gave her the respectability she needed to move up in the world. After Paul Scarron died, she was offered the chance to act as governess to the king’s illegitimate children. She accepted.