Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, Madame Helvétius Madame Helvétius is mentioned briefly in the Robert Lawson children's book "Ben and Me" (1939) as having many important people at her dinners, and also having cats (distressing to the protagonist, who is a mouse) and a particularly disagreeable dog. Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, Madame Helvétius Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, Madame Helvétius (23 July 1722 – 12 August 1800), also Anne-Catherine de Ligniville d'Autricourt, nicknamed "Minette", maintained a renowned salon in France in the eighteenth century. One of the twenty-one children of Jean-Jacques de Ligniville and his wife Charlotte de Saureau, Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, the niece of Madame de Graffigny, married the
Doomed Queen Anne in secret. On learning that she is pregnant, she reveals this to Anne, who banishes her from court. The two never reconcile. When Anne fails to give Henry a son after three years of marriage, the Seymour family begins plotting. Jane Seymour catches the king's attention. Realizing that the king may toss Anne aside for her, Anne begins to panic. Like Anne earlier in the novel, Jane refuses to become the King's mistress and instead drops heavy hints of marriage. After Anne miscarries again, she is falsely accused by the King, and by his daughter Mary, and by Lady Rochford,