Under the direction of his strong-willed mother, Custine was raised in an chaotic yet stimulating social environment. This brought him into frequent contact with noted intellectuals, among them Germaine de Staël and François-René de Chateaubriand, considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature. The marchioness purchased the château of Fervaques, near Lisieux, in Normandy, from the Duc de Laval in October 1803; Chateaubriand noted his visits there between 1804 and 1806 in which he discussed with both the marchioness and Custine in "Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe". Delphine died at Bex, in Vaud, Switzerland, on 13 July 1826.