Rowena jerked awake to the sound of someone banging a fist on her bedchamber door.
“My lady!” a muffled cry came through the wood.
Stumbling out of bed, Rowena clutched the dressing gown that hung over a chair by her vanity table and tugged it on as she rushed to the door. When she pulled it open, she saw the ashen face of the old nurse illuminated by dim light from the hallway sconces a few feet away.
“What is it? What’s the matter?” The sleep that had fogged her mind seconds ago was fading under the building panic.
“It’s the bairn! I must have fallen asleep in the chair and I heard her whimpering. Woke me right up.”
“Blair?” Rowena’s throat tightened with fear.
“Aye, she’s worsened. The fever is too strong. I cannae wake her!” The nurse’s face was stained with tears.
“No, oh no,”
