I went too; but as I was older than Fernand, and had just married my poor wife, I was only sent to the coast.

Fernand was enrolled in the active troop, went to the frontier with his regiment, and was at the battle of Ligny.

The night after that battle he was sentry at the door of a general who carried on a secret correspondence with the enemy.

That same night the general was to go over to the English.

He proposed to Fernand to accompany him; Fernand agreed to do so, deserted his post, and followed the general.
Fernand would have been court-martialed if Napoleon had remained on the throne, but his action was rewarded by the Bourbons.