One of the greatest social evils of the age was that of duelling, which, bad as it had been in the troublous times of the last Valois, had become even worse under Henri IV, during whose reign it is computed that no less than 8,000 gentlemen lost their lives on the “field of honour.” During the early years of Louis XIII’s reign the evil continued unabated; duels were of almost daily occurrence; men quarrelled and fought for the most trifling difference; they drew upon one another in the public street; they exchanged challenges to mortal combat even in the King’s chamber. From time to time various edicts against duelling had been issued, but the penalties attaching to their infraction had been seldom enforced, and it was not until Richelieu came into power that the first serious attempt to put a stop to it was made. In March, 1626, the Cardinal persuaded the King to issue a new and severe edict against the practice, which was to be punished by confiscation of property, by exile, and, in aggravated cases, by death. At first, however, the edict would not appear to have been taken very seriously, and duels continued to be fought without any very unpleasant consequences to the offenders. But Richelieu was only waiting for a chance to make a terrible example. In March, 1627, the Seigneur de Boutteville, a member of the great House of Montmorency and one of the most notorious _bretteurs_ of the time, had an “affair” with the Marquis de la Frette, captain of _Monsieur’s_ guards, in which Boutteville’s second, a gentleman named Bachoy, was killed. As this was not the first occasion on which M. de Boutteville had defied the edict,[104] the King, in high indignation, ordered Bassompierre to send three companies of the Swiss Guards to invest the delinquent’s château of Précy-sur-Oise, to which he was reported to have retired, and sent the Grand Provost with them to arrest him. When, however, the Grand Provost and the Swiss reached Précy, they found that their bird had flown and had taken refuge in Lorraine. If Boutteville had had the sense to remain there until the affair had blown over, all might have been well, as in his duel with La Frette he had not been the aggressor. But, indignant at the sentence of exile which had been pronounced against him, he boasted that he would fight his next duel in the middle of the Place-Royale. This bravado he duly accomplished some weeks later, and his second, the Comte des Chapelles, killed Bussy d’Amboise, who was acting in the same capacity to Boutteville’s adversary, the Marquis de Beuvron.[105] Beuvron fled to Italy, while Boutteville and Des Chapelles made for Lorraine; but, on their way, they stopped for a night at Vitré-le-Français, of which place Bussy d’Amboise had been governor, and the mother of the dead man, who had sent one of her servants after them, learning of their arrival, informed the authorities of the town, who caused them to be arrested.