Legacy

Men like Robin were never content, and men like Robin were all she would ever love, grasping, ambitious reflections of herself... He would begin to plot and scheme behind her back, building up a court faction... To emerge from that final conflict as the victor, it would be necessary to kill him. And she knew she was capable of doing it-- it was as simple as that.

He saw the Queen and saw her for the first time with the mask of friendship removed, a figure suddenly as ruthless and terrible as ever her father had been... All their dazzling intimacy was an illusion, a mere straw in the wind, for in the last resort he was but a subject, as her mother had been.

Words spoken in the heat of the moment may be forgiven; words preserved for ever on parchment may overreach their mark once passion has abated.

If the lion knew his true strength it were hard for any man rule him.

To Renard's suspicious eye, Elizabeth's nebulous role at court had taken on a new and sinister signifiance. This unspoken Protestant heir presumptive was suddenly the greatest obstacle to Prince Philip's path to England and Renard had already resolved to dispose of her at his earliest conveneicne. Accordingly, he invited her to dance and tried his hand at a little subtle flattery. They manoevered delicately down the Hall, like two scorpions locked in mortal combat, but no matter how he tried, he could not get close enough to sting.

Every man to the Devil his own way—as

Like a beleaguered castle her mind was husbanding its resources, boarding every window, locking every door, shutting down unnecessary functions.

I hate beds,” she said slowly. “They stand there night after night waiting for you to die in them. It’s like lying in a tomb.

I tell you this, madam, no man at court will be able to fart soon without asking Cecil first.

I am and not: I freeze and yet am burned, Since from myself, my other self I turned.

A woman who could look death squarely in the face and smile was beyond the plane of physical ruin.

is a poor substitute for food to a child with an empty belly.

The ruling of men was a dirty business—

Suspicion, like bread, rises rapidly in a warm environment.

When lovers play for kingdoms desire is not enough.