TOUCH NOT THE CAT

Engulfed"" in description, Mary Stewart's forte, and much moonshine (there are six lunar referrals in twelve lines), this is the usual romantic melodrama with its tincture of mystery and tragedy updated with a little of the powers that be up there. Bryony Ashley has the gift of perception passed down through her long family history back to the Tudors along with Ashley Court which goes to the nearest male heir at her father's too sudden death. But then no one can afford to keep the place up, and when she goes back to remove her belongings (those someone else--who?--hasn't already lifted) she finds it ""frothing with maybloom"" and dubious pilferers. Can it be the one she loves, her first cousin Emory with his ""heart-twisting smile,"" or his twin (actually she can't distinguish between them), or a third brother? And just who is the mysterious ""lover"" whom she contacts on other waves? A rather better story than Mary Stewart usually tells for a clairaudience which is never in question.