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 have all 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, there are one or two who look upon me with disdain.”
“Surely not. You are every inch a lady, and I drink to that.” He raised his glass with a flourish, warming the chill in her heart.
“Thank you. I appreciate the kind words, spoken by a true gentleman.” She tapped the rim of his glass with her own.
She was still staring into his eyes when the door swung open, and Polly rushed in.
The housemaid stopped short at the sight of madam and the American gazing at each other across the candlelit table. “Sorry,” she muttered. “Am I interrupting something?”
Feeling as if she’d been caught cheating at cards, Elizabeth cleared her throat. “What are you doing here, Polly? Why haven’t you gone home?”
Polly shrugged, then stacked the empty soup bowls into the tureen with a loud clatter that made Elizabeth wince. “Violet asked me to stay and help out with the dinner, m’m. I was wondering if you’d arranged for my lift home tonight? Violet said you didn’t want me riding my bicycle.” She sent a sly look at Earl, who looked at Elizabeth for clarification.
“Oh, yes, of course.” Elizabeth gave Earl an apologetic smile. “I wonder if perhaps one of your men could take Polly home? I hate to ask, but with a suspected murderer running around loose in the woods, I really don’t think it’s safe for her to ride home alone on her bicycle.”
She saw the shock in his eyes and was immediately contrite. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Major. I assumed you’d heard-”
He shook his head. “I’ve heard nothing. I’ve been gone all day, and after I checked in at the base I came straight back here.”
“It was a land girl,” Polly told him with relish. “They reckon that German what escaped yesterday killed her. Found her body this morning in the woods with her head chopped off.”
“That’s enough, Polly,” Elizabeth said sharply. “You may take the plates out now.”
“Yes, m’m.” Polly picked up the loaded tureen. “But what about my ride?”
“I’ll arrange something,” Earl said. “What time do you want to leave?”
“After you finish your meal will be fine, sir. Thank you.” Polly paused at the door, cradling the heavy dish in her arms. “It would be nice if Sam Cutter could take me home, sir. I’d really like that.”
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, while Earl looked speculative. “I wasn’t aware you knew my squadron leader.” He glanced at his watch. “Sam hadn’t returned when I left the base. If he’s back in his quarters by the time I’m finished here, I’ll request that he take you home.”
Polly’s face was transformed by her smile. “Thank you, sir. Much obliged, I’m sure.” She backed out of the door, still beaming.
Earl shook his head. “I hope this doesn’t break any of your rules?”
“Not at all.” Elizabeth reached for her champagne glass. “Things have changed so much since I was a young girl. Servants have so much more freedom nowadays, and I’m afraid they have become lax in their duties as well as their attitudes. I’m not sure it’s a good thing. One can’t even refer to them as servants anymore without offending them.”
“War changes a lot of things.” Earl looked around the vast room with appreciation. “It’s good that you’re not close to a big city. It would be a crime to lose a place like this to a bomb. It must be hundreds of years old.”
“Seventeenth century, actually.” Elizabeth followed his gaze to the ornate ceiling, lovingly etched by ancient hands. “I just hope we can escape the bombs for the rest of the war. Norwich isn’t that far away, and it was heavily bombed in April of this year. I’m afraid the Norfolk coast can be quite vulnerable to attack, especially from the sea. We are all supposed to carry gas masks with us all the time, though it’s mostly the children who carry them these days.”
“Well, I reckon you’re well protected with a British army camp and an American Army Air Force base in the area.”
“As well as mined beaches and barbed wire along the cliffs. Not to mention Rita Crumm and her gallant troops,” Elizabeth murmured.
Earl looked intrigued. “Sorry?”
“Just a misguided, though very enthusiastic, group of housewives with an overambitious female tyrant for a leader.”
Earl grinned. “I take it you don’t care for this Rita person?”
She made a face at him. “Rita means well, I suppose, but she can be incredibly tiresome at times. I make allowances for them all. It must be hard to sit twiddling their thumbs while their husbands are risking their lives in a foreign land. Playing at soldiers makes them feel useful, as if they are doing their bit. And most of them do a lot for the war effort, like knitting woollies for the winter, collecting scrap metal, working in victory gardens, that sort of thing. Right now they have organized a massive clothes drive in the village, to help the people who have been bombed out of their homes.”