The Last Tears of Scotland - Tapa blanda

With the Battle of Flodden in 1513, Scotland lost its King, James IV, and most of its ruling class, leading to confusion and turmoil that lasts 90 years. Alexander (Alec) Hume, the Great Chamberlain, survived that battle. He had fallen in love with his father’s ward, Lady Katherine Nisbet (Katie), a relationship his father considered incestuous, but one that he is passionately determined to maintain. Though he once strayed into the arms of the King’s widow, Queen Margaret, sister of Henry VIII, he is largely motivated to bring stability to Scotland and the Borderland. Ultimately, he invites the French speaking John Stewart, Duke of Albany to become Regent. Unable to properly communicate, they soon fall out and Albany has him branded a rebel and deprives him of all his ancestral holdings, including Hume Castle, by an act of parliament. Though upsetting to his beloved Katie, the infuriated Alec creates havoc all across the Borders to the point that Albany is obliged to forgive him and restore his land and property. But the truce is tenuous, does not end well, and once more his fortresses are lost. His struggled is taken up by his nephew, also called Alexander, who recaptures Hume Castle and successfully defends it against the Earl of Rutland, sent by Queen Elizabeth of England, angry that Alec had provided shelter to her Catholic rebels. His weakness for women leads him into tumultuous relationships first, with a farm girl, Jennie Laidlaw, then Lady Margaret Ker, Mary Queen of Scots and lastly, Lady Agnes Grey who bares him a son destined to become the first Earl of Hume (Home) starting a dynasty extant to day. In addition to the chaos of government, this Alec had to contend with the Scottish Reformation, a turbulent time of intrigue, treachery and Machiavellian machinations, and a series of bloody murders, even witch burnings. While a staunch supporter of Mary Queen of Scots he was, in the end, obliged to fight against her, forcing her out of Scotland for all time. Abridged from the saga, Lions of Scotland (Lords of Hume), this novel is based on historical fact.