The Settling of Scores

Chapter 15

            Over the next several days, nothing changed with Priscilla's condition until the night of February sixth when she awoke once more. The nurse came to awaken him and Avery went to Priscilla's side and as soon as his wife saw him she wanted him to leave her room.

            She was still angry and upset with him about her father. Avery decided right now was not the time to show her the other two missives he found. He would wait until she was further along on her road to recovery.

            Mrs. Crosby, their new housekeeper, Daisy, and Hitchins were seeing to Priscilla's needs. The nurse had only to tell them what she wanted and Priscilla had it within minutes if possible or someone went into town to acquire it for her.

            Avery kept the guards, by Wednesday he returned to his office in the mornings to work and by the next week he was there for the full day. There was no reason to stay at home with Priscilla continuing to refuse his admittance to her bedchamber.

            Avery sent a letter to Amanda and Cheyenne after his visit with Gordon Abbott about the events that had happened and thinking over what the future held for him.

            When Avery arrived home on the twenty-second, he was genuinely surprised when at last his wife allowed him into her bedchamber. Taking the letters from the small safe in his bedchamber, Avery went in to see her. He steeled himself before he walked through her door.

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            Priscilla knew she'd been a coward not allowing Avery to enter her room, but days ago, when she awakened all the memories of the night the man shot hit her with such a force it took her breath away. She remembered their argument, she remembered the man pointing the gun at her and she remembered how scared she'd been facing the gun. She wanted time to sort everything out before she saw him. Time she didn't have to spend looking at the face of man who murdered her father.

            Avery gave her the time she need.

            She wasn't surprised since what she information she knew about him would ruin him here in Bridgeport. She even skirted the issue when the Police Chief came to visit and asked what happened that night. Even when he handed her a missive she kept quiet until she read it. It wasn't the one she expected him to show her and in someway this one was just as shocking as the one from Marigold.

            That missive told her what she already knew; her father was deep in debt and once all the debts paid there was very little money left. However, she did wonder when her uncle had ever spent as much as ten pounds on her let alone five hundred pounds after her arrival at his house. She remembered telling Jason years ago about the solicitor and the estate. That left her with the biggest question of all as to why after all these years her first husband wrote to the solicitor.

            She spent the last few days looking back over what she could remember of her life with her father and nothing she remembered of those happy times pointed to a man who had murdered a woman and her child. Somewhere, somehow, Avery was mistaken about her father and it caused Avery to murder the wrong man. Priscilla didn't believe for one minute that her father confessed to Avery Herrington that he murdered Arabella and Christopher Herrington.

            Maybe a distraught Avery heard only what he wanted to hear. Saw only what he wanted to see. Moreover, for some reason he wanted to believe her father murdered his wife and son.