She was born in 1746, and at a very early age showed a remarkable talent for music, but her general education was much neglected.  At the age of about seventeen she was married to a Comte de Genlis, who had fallen in love with her on seeing her portrait.  As his relatives refused to welcome the young girl, she was placed in the convent of Origny, where she remained until 1764, after which her husband took her to his brother’s estate, where they lived happily for a short time.  When, in 1765, she became a mother, her husband’s family became reconciled to his union, and, later on, took her to court.

Before her marriage, upon the departure of her father to San Domingo to retrieve his fortunes, her mother had found an asylum for her at the elegant home of the farmer-general M. de La Popeliniere.  This occurred at the time that Paris was theatre mad, and when great actors and actresses were the heroes and heroines of society.  At this house the young girl became the central figure in the theatrical and musical entertainments.  After passing through this schooling, she stood the test of the court without any difficulty, and completely won the favor of her husband’s family, as well as that of the court ladies and the members of the other distinguished households where she was introduced.  With an insatiable appetite for frolics, quite in keeping with the customs of the time, she plunged into social life with a vigor and an aptitude which soon attracted attention.  She played all sorts of roles at the most fashionable houses, “through her consummate acting and bons mots drawing tears of vexation from her less gifted sisters.  She plays nine instruments, writes dramas, recasts others, organizes and drills amateurs, besides attending to a thousand and one other things.”

Through the influence of her aunt, Mme. de Montesson, who was secretly married to the Duke of Orleans, Mme. de Genlis was appointed lady-in-waiting in the household of the Duchesse de Chartres, the duke’s daughter-in-law, whose salon was celebrated in Paris.  She soon won the confidence of the duchess, and became her confessor, secretary, guide, and oracle, but did not abandon in the least her pursuit of pleasure.  She even took possession of the heart of the duke himself, and in 1782 was made “gouverneur” to his children, the Duc de Valois, later Louis-Philippe, the Duc de Montpensier, the Comte de Beaujolais, and Mlle. Adelaide; for the education of her pupils she had the use of several chateaux.  Many a piquant epigram and chanson were composed for the edification of the “gouverneur.”  It is said that she acted as panderer for the princes, especially Louis-Philippe, of a “legitimate means of satisfying these ardent desires of which I am being devoured,” by leading them to the nuns in the convents by means of a subterranean passage.  The following passages from the journal of Louis-Philippe show the nature of his relations with her: