BLOODBROTHERS

Second installment in an historical saga (The Canadians) whose lust volume was not hardcover-published here. The heroes are Stephen Nowell, captured by Indians as a boy in the early 1700s, then raised by Jesuit missionaries; and young Swiss mercenary Karl Stiegler. Here they reaffirm their bloodbrotherhood circa 1746 in New York--where Stephen is seduced by widow Cornelia (though attracted to her virginal illegitimate stepdaughter Katherine), then is hired to manage and develop the estate of Admiral Vaughan. After sailing up the Hudson, building lean-tos for the winter, and meeting the well-spoken Mohawk leader William Johnson, Stephen also meets his former lover Molly Brant--who's now an Indian princess under the care of Chief Brant and prince Aaron. So, while Stephen winters with Molly, bloodbrother Karl helps Katherine--who has come upstate looking for help. And things heat up when Mohawk chief Johnson takes a fancy to Molly: she gets pregnant by him; Mohawks attack Stephen's farm. But finally Molly goes far away to the Oneidas while Stephen marries Katherine, has a daughter, leaves them to go off to Europe (Katherine meanwhile has a son by Karl) . . . and returns in time to have Karl die in his arms during the siege of Quebec. Historical-soap along the lines of John Jakes: fair to middling for the genre.