It was by female influence that Poyet was raised to his lofty station; it was by the same influence that he was precipitated from it. Two parties existed at court, those of the dauphin and the duke of Alençon, the heads of which were the constable de Montmorenci and the admiral de Chabot. Besides the hatred which he felt against Chabot as a political rival, the haughty Montmorenci found, in the unceremonious tone of equality with which he was addressed by the admiral, another reason for hating him. To ruin an enemy by underhand measures was the natural proceeding of a courtier. He insinuated to the king that Chabot had acquired his riches by iniquitous practices; and, by holding out the lure of a cardinal’s hat, he induced Poyet to assist in Chabot’s destruction. The chancellor exerted himself so strenuously, in raking up matter of accusation against the intended victim, that he at length produced five-and-twenty charges, each of which, he declared, would subject the delinquent to capital punishment. The alleged criminality of Chabot was soon made known to the king. It is probable, nevertheless, that remembering the services of Chabot, and the friendship which had existed ever since their youthful days, Francis would have overlooked the supposed crimes, had he not been provoked by a speech which sounded like defiance. Some trifling dispute occurring between them, he threatened to bring him to trial; to which Chabot boldly replied, that a trial had no terrors for him, his conduct having always been so irreproachable, that neither his life nor his honour could be put in danger. Francis was weak enough to take offence at this implied challenge; he committed the offender to the castle of Melun, and directed the chancellor to prosecute him.