LORD MULLION'S SECRET

Royal Academy painter Charles Honeybath (Honeybath's Haven) is invited down to the estate of his old school chum Lord Mullion. Purpose: to paint Lady Mullion for a tidy sum. But soon after arriving on the premises--which are open to the paying public twice a week--Honeybath is confronted by a clutch of puzzles and touchy situations. He spots an obvious fake among the Mullions' collection of Hilliard portraits. He is perplexed by Mullion's artistic Aunt Camilla, a long-insane octogenarian who wanders about the place. (She supposedly never visited Italy--but Honeybath recognizes Italian scenery in her old watercolors!) And there's an obviously budding romance between Mullion's daughter and a smart young gardener. . . who bears a disturbing resemblance to Mullion ancestors. Obviously, there are family secrets lurking here-abouts--and they all come out in a comic-opera finale of no credibility whatsoever. But never mind. This is art-wise Innes at his most effortlessly, uncommonly charming: amusing dialogue, infectious turns of mind and phrase, and a grand sense of what life is like in a stately home that becomes a tourist trap every Wednesday and Saturday.