This allusion to Jane Shore was somewhat ominous for Hastings, as it was generally understood that since the king's death Lord Hastings had taken Jane Shore under his protection, and had lived in great intimacy with her. As Richard said this, he pulled up the sleeve of his doublet to the elbow, to let the company look at his arm. This arm had always been weak, and smaller than the other. "See," said he, "what they are doing to me." He meant that by the power of necromancy they had made an image of wax as an effigy of him, according to the mode explained in a previous chapter, and were now melting it away by slow degrees in order to destroy his life, and that his arm was beginning to pine and wither away in consequence. [Illustration: THE COUNCIL IN THE TOWER.] The lords knew very well that the state in which they saw Richard's arm was its natural condition, and that, consequently, his charge against the queen and Jane Shore was only a pretense, which was to be the prelude and excuse for some violent measures that he was about to take. They scarcely knew what to say. At last Lord Hastings replied, "Certainly, my lord, if they have committed so heinous an offense as this, they deserve a very heinous punishment." "If!" repeated the Protector, in a voice of thunder. "And thou servest me, then, it seems, with _ifs_ and _ands_. I tell thee that they _have_ so done--and I will make what I say good upon thy body, traitor!" He emphasized and confirmed this threat by bringing down his fist with a furious blow upon the table. This was one of the signals which he had agreed upon with the people that he had stationed without at the door of the council hall. A voice was immediately heard in the ante-chamber calling out Treason. This was again another signal. It was a call to a band of armed men whom Richard had stationed in a convenient place near by, and who were to rush in at this call. Accordingly, a sudden noise was heard of the rushing of men and the clanking of iron, and before the councilors could recover from their consternation the table was surrounded with soldiery, all "in harness," that is, completely armed, and as fast as the foremost came in and gathered around the table, others pressed in after them, until the room was completely full. Richard, designating Hastings with a gesture, said suddenly, "I arrest thee, traitor." "What! _me_, my lord?" exclaimed Hastings, in terror. "Yes, thee, traitor."