Chapter 8: A Letter from Francesca Summary

Francesca died two years later at the age of 69. The doctor said she "just died." She had been in good health and he could find no cause. In her will, she requested that her ashes be scattered at the Roseman Bridge. Cremation was not common in Madison County and hers caused quite a stir among the town gossips in Winterset. Michael and Carolyn took her ashes to the Roseman Bridge and scattered them as she had wished. They couldn't remember any family connection to the bridge and they found her request strange.

It was Carolyn who ran across the letters from Robert Kincaid. Michael took the letters and read them, too. They were both shocked that their mother was in love with another man. They looked around her other possessions and found a custom-made walnut...