On the way over to the Bryants’, Lucy was silent and preoccupied. She wore the silver ring, and had the family documents in her purse. When she saw the mansion her grandparents lived in, she hesitated. Vicki took her hand and escorted her up the marble steps.
“I’ll never fit in here,” Lucy whispered, as they followed the butler toward the room with the parakeets.
“Yes, you will,” Vicki whispered back. “Wait and see.”
Mr. and Mrs. Bryant were waiting for them. Vicki’s heart sank when she saw that ‘Lucy’—the false Lucy—was with them. She had wanted so much to talk to them alone! Mrs. Bryant rose and came forward to greet the two girls.
“How nice to see you, Vicki. And I’m so glad you’ve brought your friend. I asked our Lucy to stay and meet her.”
The true Lucy stared at the impostor. There was no real resemblance between them, except that both were brown-haired, around the same age, and either Lucy might have once been the little girl in the snapshot. The true Lucy must have seen the silver ring on the other Lucy’s hand, for she thrust her hand in her pocket to hide her own silver ring. Vicki took her friend’s arm, to give her courage.
As Mr. Bryant and the sophisticated-looking girl rose from the sofa, Vicki said, “This is my friend from San Francisco, Lucy Rowe.” It took all her courage to come right out and say that. She watched the false Lucy closely.
“Lucy Rowe!” Mrs. Bryant exclaimed, and a look of wonder crossed her face.
“What a coincidence,” the other girl said, after a pause. “How do you do, Miss Rowe?”
Lucy was unable to speak. She looked into Mrs. Bryant’s face with her feelings naked in her eyes. Marshall Bryant said: