Her world in France was a world of household retinues and court culture, of Catholic religious practice and the careful social navigation of the French aristocracy, of property law and marriage prospects and the obligations and opportunities that came with gentle birth.

But that world had complications.

Marguerite was orphaned at some point — the specifics of when and how are not clearly documented — and she came under the guardianship of a relative named Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval.

The exact nature of their relationship is itself somewhat disputed: some sources describe him as her uncle, others as her cousin, and the Documentary record does not settle the question definitively.

What is clear is that he was a significant figure in her life, her legal guardian, and that the two of them shared some connection to the same family estates.