Death Is in the Air by Kate Kingsbury

silly mid-on proud, that one would.”
    Catching sight of Earl’s puzzled look, Elizabeth murmured, “Cricket term.” She turned to Martin, who was still gazing at the major with something like awe on his face. “You may leave the soup, Martin. I will serve it myself.” She waited for Earl to reseat himself, still with a bemused expression on his face.
    He sat down heavily on his chair as Martin shuffled slowly out of the room. “Silly mid-on?”
    “Yes, it’s a cricket fielder’s position.”
    “Silly mid-on? For real?”
    Elizabeth nodded. “They have a silly mid-off, too.”
    “You’re kidding me.”
    “I swear I’m not.” She didn’t think this was a good time to explain all the intricacies of one of England’s favorite pastimes. “Would you care for some soup?”
    He obediently held out his plate. “This is one game I’ve got to see.”
    “Well, I’m afraid you might have a long wait.” She carefully ladled pale green soup into the deep bowl. “The men who usually play cricket on the green haveall been called up. I suppose the army might have a game now and then, though I imagine if they do it would be played at the camp.”
    “That’s too bad.” Earl put his plate down in front of him and eyed it suspiciously. “I’d like to have seen a cricket match.”
    “Well, maybe we can arrange something one of these days.” She watched him take a cautious sip of the soup and was pleased when his expression cleared. “I trust the soup is to your liking?”
    He flashed a grin at her. “The soup is very much to my liking. Thanks.”
    She quickly transferred her attention to her own dish.
    “You must have been lonely growing up in this huge house,” he said, after a few moments of companionable silence.
    She laid down her spoon and dabbed at her mouth with her serviette. “Not really. We had more servants then, and the house was always full of guests. My mother entertained a lot. Though I often wished I could have gone to school instead of having a private tutor. I think I missed a lot.”
    He studied her with a grave expression. “I guess you did. What about now? This can’t be much of a life for a woman like yourself, living practically alone in a mansion.”
    “Oh, I have plenty of companionship. Violet, Martin, and Polly are like family, and I have my various committees, and there are always people coming in from the village for advice or help with a problem. Though I must admit, I have been thinking lately of adopting a couple of dogs for extra companionship. There was always a dog around when I was growing up.”
    The major smiled. “Didn’t you ever want to break free of all this and go see the rest of the world?”
    She laughed, not quite hiding the bitterness. “Oh, I did all that. I traveled fairly extensively and lived in London for several years until I divorced my husband.”
    He sounded surprised when he said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were married.”
    “Almost nine years. Harry is a compulsive gambler. When my parents died I inherited everything. We moved down here to take over the management of the estate, and Harry managed to lose most of my inheritance in a little over a year. I divorced him before he could lose the Manor House as well.”
    “Sounds like you were well rid of him.”
    “Maybe, but it’s such a dreadful stigma to be divorced. Especially when one is the lady of the manor. I lost the respect of the villagers. It didn’t help that their new guardian is a woman. If it hadn’t been for the fact that it’s wartime and most of the able-bodied men are serving abroad, I would have had a much harder time of it.”
    “Surely in this day and age people are more understanding about divorce. It happens all the time now.”
    “In your country, perhaps. Possibly even here, in the large cities. But in a small village like Sitting Marsh, divorce is still frowned upon. It has taken me many months to earn back the respect of the villagers. Even now,