She was in a relationship with Monsieur Granpree, but was caught sneaking around with Monsieur Le Pique.
Of course, in keeping with those times, Granpree had to defend his honor by dueling Le Pique and whoever won the duel would get the girl.
She obviously had no say in the matter seeing that it was 1808 and she would have had to be happy with ‘the better man.’
The men considered themselves “men of elevated minds” and as such opted for a duel in hot air balloons. There were many spectators gathering as they prepared the balloons, but they had no idea it would be a duel. They were merely expecting a balloon race!
At 9 o’clock on 3 May 1808 the cords were cut and the two men ascended into the sky, not knowing which one of them will land safely to claim their ‘prize.’ A moderate wind was blowing and as far as could be told they stayed within about 80 yards of each other.
At a height of about 900 yards Le Pique fired a shot that missed its target and almost simultaneously Granpree fired, penetrating his adversary’s balloon.
Le Pique’s balloon plummeted to the ground at a high speed and according to reports Le Pique and his flight companion were “both dashed to pieces on a house-top.”
Monsieur Granpree therefore retained the ‘affections’ of Mademoiselle Tirevit, whether she liked it or not!
