SARABAND FOR TWO SISTERS

This latest from Carr/Plaidy/Holt concerns the twin daughters of Tamsyn, who, you may remember, solved the mystery of The Witch From the Sea (1975); and in this processed 17th-century folderol there's a love tangle as well. Naive Angelet and nervier Besaba are as close as two cherries on one stem; but Besaba loves Angelet's husband Richard, a soldier for King Charles I, whom Angelet adores but cannot enjoy in bed. Besaba substitutes herself one night, becomes pregnant, and marries a neighboring Puritan. While Besaba and Richard (now also besotted) nobly accept their lot, the historical skirmishes intervene and Angelet's fatal childbirth takes care of the remainder of the problem. Meanwhile the twins are kept busy by the secret of Richard's locked and closely guarded small castle and a housekeeper too free with her herbs and potions. Cromwelliana slathered with clotted cream.