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George Sand
Chopin at 28, from Delacroix's joint portrait of Chopin and Sand, 1838

In 1836, at a party hosted by Marie d'Agoult, Chopin met the French author George Sand (born [Amantine] Aurore [Lucile] Dupin). Short (under five feet, or 152 cm), dark, big-eyed and a cigar smoker,[75] she initially repelled Chopin, who remarked, "What an unattractive person la Sand is. Is she really a woman?"[76] However, by early 1837 Maria Wodzinska's mother had made it clear to Chopin in correspondence that a marriage with her daughter was unlikely to proceed.[77] It is thought that she was influenced by his poor health and possibly also by rumours about his associations with women such as d'Agoult and Sand.[78] Chopin finally placed the letters from Maria and her mother in a package on which he wrote, in Polish, "My Sorrow".[79] Sand, in a letter to Grzymala of June 1838, admitted strong feelings for the composer and debated whether to abandon a current affair in order to begin a relationship with Chopin; she asked Grzymala to assess Chopin's relationship with Maria Wodzinska, without realising that the affair, at least from Maria's side, was over.[80]

In June 1837 Chopin visited London incognito in the company of the piano manufacturer Camille Pleyel, where he played at a musical soirée at the house of English piano maker James Broadwood.[81] On his return to Paris his association with Sand began in earnest, and by the end of June 1838 they had become lovers.[82] Sand, who was six years older than the composer and had had a series of lovers, wrote at this time: "I must say I was confused and amazed at the effect this little creature had on me ... I have still not recovered from my astonishment, and if I were a proud person I should be feeling humiliated at having been carried away ..."[83] The two spent a miserable winter on Majorca (8 November 1838 to 13 February 1839), where, together with Sand's two children, they had journeyed in the hope of improving Chopin's health and that of Sand's 15-year-old son Maurice, and also to escape the threats of Sand's former lover Félicien Mallefille.[84] After discovering that the couple were not married, the deeply traditional Catholic people of Majorca became inhospitable,[85] making accommodation difficult to find. This compelled the group to take lodgings in a former Carthusian monastery in Valldemossa, which gave little shelter from the cold winter weather.[82]