“We’ll go and see it, and I’ll tell you about it when we’re there.”
They went through a little ancient court into a beautiful old room with a stained-glass window at one end.
“Chaucer may have seen that glass,” said Godmother, “for it was painted long before he was born. This room was built during his lifetime, for the use of the Abbot’s guests when they came to stay with him. It was probably called the Jerusalem Chamber because there used to be tapestry on its walls showing the history of Jerusalem. And about that there is a curious story.”
“Do tell me!” Betty urged.
“I will, when we go home. Or rather, I’ll let Shakespeare tell you, because he has used the story in one of his plays.
“Many things have happened in this Jerusalem Chamber from the days when Chaucer saw it, up to our own time. Not so very long ago, for instance, when the Bible was revised—(that is, translated again, and much of the wording altered) the learned men who worked at it sat here.... Now we’ve seen as much of the Abbey as was in existence when Richard the Second was king. But of course an enormous amount of its history comes after his time.”
“Does the story of the Jerusalem Chamber come after?” Betty asked.
“Yes, but so soon afterwards that we’ll read it in the play of Henry the Fourth.”
“He was the very next king after Richard, wasn’t he? Oh yes, of course. He was the man who usurped the throne, and had poor Richard murdered.”
Directly they reached the parlour at home, Betty ran to the bookcase for a “Shakespeare,” and Godmother turned to the play.