 His presumed lover Germaine de Staël was a major influence on him, and he on her.Though their personal philosophies were most different (she a romantic, he very much unsentimental), she assisted him greatly, most notably by lobbying Barras to permit Talleyrand to return to France from his American exile, and then to have him made foreign minister.He lived with Catherine Worlée, born in India and married there to Charles Grand.