 He was conscripted into the army, married an heiress, Mlle de Dortan, then gained leave from his regiment in 1802 to travel to Rome with Granet, where he fell into the facile manner of a highly accomplished dilettante, as he was received by the best of Francophile Roman society; in 1804 he was given the post of chamberlain to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's sister Princess Pauline Borghese.They were lovers from 1805 to 1807, living together at the Place Forbin, Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence, from May to October 1807.Rejoining the army, he served with distinction under Junot in Portugal, and received the "Croix d'honneur", then served in the Austrian campaign of 1809, returning to Italy after the peace of Schönbrunn.