At this house it was that Richard conceived the curious idea of treating his fellow-burgesses to what must have infallibly endeared him to English neighbours--namely, the spectacle of a horse-race. Such a thing as that was, it appears, previously quite unknown in Metz. And accordingly it occasioned not a little stir. Richard and "_aultres seigneurs_," we read, were much given to exciting pastimes, including gambling and betting. And Richard, being the owner of a horse of which--like other owners of horses--he had an exceedingly high opinion, was rash enough one day to offer a bet against any one who might maintain that within ten "_lues_" round there was another horse running equally well. Nicolle Dex (whose name was pronounced Desh) readily took the bet, offering, to run his own horse against Richard's. All the particulars of the arrangements for the race are minutely recorded by Vigneulles. The two men were to ride their own horses. The course was to be from the Orme at Aubigny (a village five miles from Metz) to the gate of the Abbey of St. Clement (which abbey was destroyed in 1552, when the Duc de Guise held Metz against Charles V.). The bet was for eighty "_escus d'or au solleil_," which was to be paid beforehand to a stakeholder. The race came off on the appointed day, Saturday the 2nd of May--the day on which "_l'awaine et le bacon_" were, by regulation of the authorities, first sold. That would enable the competitors to get easily out of the gate of St. Thibault--which was conveniently near Richard's house, but which had to be opened on purpose. The Chevalier Dex, with an amount of cunning of which Vigneulles does not altogether approve, had for some days before subjected both himself and his horse to preparatory treatment--"_dieu scet comment_." "_Comme il me fut dit et certifié_," that treatment consisted in his drinking nothing but white wine--which is the more sour of the two, and therefore is supposed rather strongly to contract the human frame--and giving his horse no hay whatever. Moreover, he had his horse shod with very light steel shoes. And himself he made as light as possible, riding "_tout en pourpoint, avec un petit bonnet en sa teste_," without shoes and without a saddle, having merely a light saddle-cloth laid over the horse's back. "Blanche Rose," however, rode in a saddle, and booted and spurred as for ordinary exercise. When the signal was given, Vigneulles says, the horsemen started with such terrible impetuosity that the bystanders thought the earth was going to open under them. "Blanche Rose" kept the lead most part of the way. But when the two reached St. Laidre--a _léproserie_ near Montigny (the name of which still survives in a hamlet situated between Montigny and Aubigny) famed for its asparagus and fruit--Dex's artifices began to tell. Richard's horse was found to puff and to pant, and could not keep pace with its rival. Nicolle outstripped him.