She did not. Indeed, she told Vicki how happy she was “that Mr. Dorn has found Eleanor’s daughter,” and what a fine girl she considered her to be. “I can see something of Eleanor in her, in little ways.”
“In what ways?” Vicki asked. “Does she look like her mother?”
“N-no, Lucy doesn’t really resemble Eleanor—or Jack Rowe, either. But then I never resembled my parents! No, she reminds me of Eleanor in a certain dignity and reserve which she has, and in—oh—maybe I’m imagining it, but in little mannerisms—
“And Lucy knows so much about our family history,” Mrs. Bryant went on. “It’s gratifying to me, naturally, that she takes such a great interest in the family. It—In fact, it’s—” The lady hesitated. “I almost wonder, considering her youth and the family’s separation, how it’s possible for her to have learned so much family history. In such detail, too.”
Vicki waited for Mrs. Bryant to think further about her doubt, to pay attention to this danger signal. But the elderly lady smiled and said:
“Lucy’s family loyalty accounts for her remarkable knowledge, of course.”
Vicki said nothing, but she did not necessarily agree. The Marshall Bryant family was a prominent one; from time to time newspapers and magazines mentioned their activities and printed photographs; Mr. Bryant’s career was listed in Who’s Who. What was there to prevent a clever, unscrupulous girl from going to the public library in any big city, looking up these facts, and memorizing them?
A question occurred to Vicki: How had this girl, if she was an impostor, discovered that Thurman Dorn was seeking the young heiress to a fortune? She could have found out in a number of ways—something overheard, a newspaper notice inquiring about Lucy Rowe, even a word dropped by Lucy herself. And how had this girl sidetracked Mr. Dorn from finding the true Lucy? Was it more than a coincidence that Dorn had been unable to find Lucy on his first trip to San Francisco? Was it more than a coincidence that another girl named Lucy Rowe had gone away on a job to a lonely place like Pine Top? Vicki shivered.
Mrs. Bryant was saying, “I couldn’t be happier, and I couldn’t be more grateful to Thurman Dorn. He’s done a wonderful thing in reuniting the three of us.” The lady said hastily, “I appreciate the interest you took in this matter, Vicki. I hope you didn’t put yourself to any trouble.”
“Nothing worth mentioning, at least not now, Mrs. Bryant.” How and what could she tell of her own search under the circumstances?