Jean-Conrad worked hard and was ambitious. Times were turbulent. In 1793 he was denounced for ‘royalist’ activities and fled back to Zurich, and then to England where he married his American sweetheart, Martha Eliza Redwood, daughter of an English family who had set up plantations in the United States.
Whilst Europe bickered, in 1794 the young couple sailed to the East Coast of America where they met a group of French emigrants, including Talleyrand, the famous diplomat. Jean-Conrad became important in diplomatic circles and was a key player in the infamous ‘XYZ Affair’ which shocked London society to the core.
