As they walked along the shady streets the English gentleman explained to his friend all that Philippe had said. The American nodded his head understandingly.
"That is very interesting," he said. "I do not blame the Belgians for being loyal to their King. They have good reasons."
PALACE OF THE KING, BRUSSELS
"I am sure you would like to visit Waterloo," suggested Philippe. "I need not tell you the story of Waterloo," he smiled, "for everybody who has ever studied history knows about that."
But those who have not yet studied history may want to know that it is a famous battlefield where many wars were fought. The most famous of the battles was the struggle between the Duke of Wellington, who commanded the English army, and Napoleon Bonaparte who led the French.
When Philippe and his new friends had looked about for a while, the American gentleman remarked, "So this is where Napoleon met his Waterloo!"
It was here that Napoleon was conquered! That is why we still use the expression "met his Waterloo" when we mean to say "was defeated."