and while abigail would have preferred to continue to live in her own home and stay close to her neighbor and dear friend , who had been a skilled midwife and healer , she knew in her heart that she wasnt strong enough to live alone and she also knew she did not want another relationship , so she had sold the small farm she had inherited and had moved in with the two brothers with the intention of staying only as long as it took to receive a response to her letter that she had written to her sister and brother-in-law in england , asking if she could come home .