Her own family, the Rochechouart de Mortemarts, were distinguished by two qualities, their breeding and their charm. Theirs was one of the oldest and grandest families in France, and they had lived on their estate at Lussac, in the Poitou region, since the eighth century. The Mortemarts, of whom a Seigneur is recorded in 1094, were united with the Rochechouarts of Lussac in 1205, when Aiméry, the seventh Vicomte de Rochechouart, married Alix de Mortemart. The family motto, Ante mare ondae (“Before the sea, the waves”), is a testament to the antiquity of the line. Athénaïs’s elder sister, Gabrielle, who married the Marquis de Thianges, epitomized the family conviction that to be a Rochechouart was to be superhuman. She considered herself a masterpiece of nature, not only for her external beauty, but for the superior “essence” of which she was composed. She used to tease the King about the inferior lineage of the Bourbons, who had compromised their quarterings by marrying “trade”
