Within a few years she lost her father, husband, two of her brothers, and her second son; and after putting her financial affairs into order, she and her friend, the Countess of Maure, took up their quarters at the famous Place Royale; there they decided to devote their lives to letters, and there assembled their friends, men and women, regardless of rank or party, personal merit being the only means of access.  Mmes. de Sable and de Rambouillet were called the arbiters of elegance and good taste.

To her friends, Mme. de Sable was always accommodating and showed no partiality; well informed, she was constantly approached for counsel and favors; discreet and trustworthy, the most important secrets were intrusted to her—­a confidence which she never betrayed.  During the Fronde she remained faithful to the queen and Mazarin, but did not become estranged from her friends, so many of whom were Frondists, and who chose her as their counsellor, arbitrator, and pacifier.

About 1655 she began to realize her unsettled position in the world and to long for a place where she might, modestly and becomingly, spend her declining years.  She was then fifty-five years of age.  The ideas of Jansenism had so impressed the great people of the day, that she decided to retire to Port-Royal, to end her days with sympathizers of the spiritual life around her and her former friends whenever she desired them.  There she gathered about her the most exclusive and aristocratic people of the day:  La Rochefoucauld, the Prince and Princess of Conti, Conde, Monsieur,—­brother of Louis XIV.,—­Mme. de La Fayette, Mme. de Hautefort, and others.

At her apartments, not only were religious and literary affairs discussed, but the most delicate and delicious dishes were prepared and elixirs and remedies for disease compounded.  Famous people were led to seek her, through her reputation and influence, and through friendship, for she seldom left her house.  Mme. de Sable possessed all the qualities that attract and hold, nothing extraordinary or rare, but abundant politeness and elegance.

It was not long before she began to withdraw from even her friends, still continuing, however, her fine cuisine, the remarkable care of her health, and her medical experiments.  Her dinners became celebrated, and invitations to them were much in demand; about them there were no signs of opulence, but her gatherings were distinguished for refinement and taste.  Her friends were constantly asking her for her recipes, of the preparation of which no one but herself knew the secret.

At the salon of Mme. de Sable originated many famous literary works, such as the Conferences sur le Calvinisme, works on Cartesian philosophy, the Logique de Port-Royal, Questions sur l’Amour, Les Maximes, etc.  She will be remembered as the initiator of many maxims, in the composition of which she excelled.  A number of her sayings concerning friendship have been preserved.  Two treatises, in the form of maxims, on the education of children and on friendship, respectively, are supposed to have come from her pen; from them La Rochefoucauld conceived the ideas he utilized in his famous Maxims.