Lord of Enchantment

Robinson (Lady Dangerous) tries an unsuccessful combination of farce and historical romance in this tale of love and intrigue set in 16th-century Britain. Penelope Fairfax, whose ``gift''-visions of the past and premonitions of the future-has resulted in exile from her family, lives a peaceful life on a small island off the coast. That peace comes to an end when she finds a young man, unconscious and wounded, on a beach near her home. Although the man-Morgan St. John, an agent of Elizabeth II-regains his health under Penelope's care, his memory is gone and he is unaware that his enemies will track him to the island. As England goes to the brink of war, Penelope and Morgan struggle with spies and assassins and with their own fears of trusting and loving each other. The story is marred by Robinson's awkward language (``Since she was small and round of body, with red hair, she managed to look like a disgruntled apple''), heavy-handed naming of characters (Penelope's servants are Sniggs, Turnip, Dibbler, Wheedle, Twistle and Erbut) and situations straight out of farce. Too many addlepated characters and too much slapstick undercut what might have been a compelling story of intrigue and passion. (Jan.)