Carpenter's Gothic part 2

My reaction to reading the second part of "Carpenter's Gothic", is that I feel that I am still having trouble putting together what is going on in the book. One thing that I did pick up on this part was that Paul keeps on talking about doing something with this Reverend Ude. Why is Paul so interested in this one client? Another thing that seems interesting is why Liz would need a executor to her father's will? From what we discussed in class, it seems as if people in the 1980's usually hired executors if they had money over 1 million dollars. The book doesn't mention how much money the father had. One thing that I am curious about is why Billy and Paul hate each other, did something happen before the beginning of the book to make them like this? Another thing I don't understand is why Liz puts up with Paul if he beats her and doesn't treat her like she should be. I feel that if someone isn't treating you well or is abusive, you should leave them and find someone who will be a lot nicer to you. I feel like Paul is just a bad person who doesn't care about Liz, and he is just using her for his own needs.