His Last Letter: Elizabeth I and the Earl of Leicester — Jeane Westin

On the night of her greatest triumph, England's naval victory over the Spanish Armada, Queen Elizabeth I suffered her most devastating loss: the death of her lifelong companion and lover, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Overcome with grief, she locked herself in her room for days with Dudley's last letter to her. Only her duty to the throne compelled her to emerge, once again in command as the last Tudor monarch....

Her Sweet Robin, His Dear Bess
They were playmates as children, impetuous lovers as adults -- and for thirty years they were the center of each other's lives. Astute to the dangers of choosing any one man, Elizabeth the Virgin Queen could never give her "Sweet Robin" what he wanted most: marriage -- yet she insisted he stay close by her. Although she was possessive and jealous, their love survived quarrels, his two disastrous marriages to other women, her constant flirtations, and political machinations with foreign princes.

"I have lived -- and so will die -- only yours..."
His Last Letter tells the story of this great love... and especially of the last three years Elizabeth and Dudley spent together -- the most dangerous of her rule -- when their passion was tempered by a bittersweet recognition of all that they shared, and all that would remain unfulfilled....