A Queen

Candlelight reflected off gleaming golden candlesticks. Rich damask and velvets adorned the canopied bed and walls. It was a room fit for a queen. It was, in fact, the room of Mary II, Queen of England. Although she and her husband, King William III, Prince of Orange, held the crown of the land, they were not above the people and their troubles. Smallpox was a disease that ravaged the cities and towns of England. Now their Queen lay in bed with the same terrible sickness. Death comes to those...