I read a truly wonderful book several years ago and I can't for the life of me remember the author or title. I know I still have it since I keep almost every book I read. I've searched through many and can't seem to find "the one." Anyway, there is one tender scene that has always remained with me and it doesn't even include the hero or heroine. It's the aunt of the heroine who is an abbess and toward the end the man she has loved all her life is injured with no hope for survival. As he is dying, he asks that the abbess come to him and when the heroine walks into the room, she finds her aunt (the abbess) laying on the bed with him as he is dying. They fell in love when very young and she was sent to the convent because they were caught in a compromising situation. The knight never married and she became a nun who eventually became an abbess.
I'm trying to remember if I read this too. Jean K, could you help us out with some more details? I was wondering if it was a romance with real historical characters or a straight romance? I don't know why I keep thinking Jean Plaidy (AKA Victoria Holt) may have written something in this vein in her Plantagenet series. Her books were published in the 70s.