Wikipedia tells me, Frank, that a dowager 'in common usage' can refer to any rich old woman who 'behaves with dignity' and I am sure Agatha behaved with dignity though I couldn't speak for Dorothy L. Sayers. Nice one.
Of course I myself use it only of the widows of dukes and belted earls, but then my great-grandmother was Countess of Paddington, don't you know.
|