Edward, with all his faults, had been a kind husband and father; but he had trusted his wife less implicitly than she desired to be trusted. In this he was justified by the fact of her close relationship to the Earl of Lancaster, and still more by the jealousy which she displayed towards his confidential ministers. Not only the Despensers but Stapleton, Bishop of Exeter, the Treasurer, and Baldock, the Chancellor, were the objects of her settled aversion; and she lent a ready ear to all who fancied that these men had injured them or stood in the way of their advancement. The court contained many such men, who were ambitious of becoming ministers of state or bishops and ready to take either side for gain; men who hated the Despensers, and who saw their own prospects blighted by the fall of Lancaster. Regularly, as the tide had turned, as the king or the Ordainers had gained or lost, the great offices of state had changed hands, and there was all the grudging, all the personal animosities, which in later ages appear to be inseparable from government by party. [Sidenote: Avarice and arrogance of the Despensers. ] The events which followed the peace with Scotland brought these influences more strongly into play. The shadows gathered rapidly round the miserable king almost from that hour. The constitutional struggle had ceased. The death of the Earl of Lancaster had rid the Despensers of their most dangerous rival, the revocation of the Ordinances had left the government in their hands, and the death of the Earl of Pembroke in 1324 left them without competitors. The elder Hugh, now made Earl of Winchester, set no limit to his acquisitiveness; he was an old man, and might have considered that it would be more conducive to his son’s welfare to make friends than to multiply estates. The younger Hugh, himself a man of mature years, was made, by his violence and pride, even more conspicuous than his father. Henry of Lancaster, the brother and heir of Earl Thomas, was reduced to practical insignificance by the detention of his brother’s estates in the king’s hands; and although the Despensers sought to purchase his services, and he had no personal dislike to the king, he could not be regarded as a safe and sound pillar of the falling state. The ministers Baldock and Stapleton were faithful men, but neither wise enough to counteract nor strong enough to guide the policy of the favorites. [Sidenote: Summons to Edward to do homage to the new French king. ] [Sidenote: Departure of the queen for France, followed by that of Prince Edward. ]