Who is Gilbert La Fayette from Red Prophet and what is their importance?

Marquis de La Fayette, who believed that Canada was a repository for the dregs of French society, is a founder of the Club of Feuillants and was exiled to Canada to live out his life where he could do no harm. He has a knack of being able to read a persons most secret wish or desire, and it is a knack that enables him to guess at most everything else. Though not able to read minds, he can read motivation, and once he knows the desire, the rest is easy.