Chapter 16 The Clue of the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene
A Happy Reunion
“You’re not eating a thing, Nancy.”
Anxiously Hannah Gruen hovered near the luncheon table watching her young mistress. Nancy had only toyed with the delicious soufflé which the housekeeper had prepared, and ignored the plate of frosted cakes set before her.
“I’m not hungry, Hannah. I’m so excited about Rodney and Ruth coming!”
“Humph! If it ain’t one pair of twins it’s another! I declare, no one gives me any consideration in this house. Here I slave all morning baking cake and cooking a fine luncheon. Then your father telephones he won’t be home, and you refuse to eat!”
Nancy laughed. “I’ll eat the plates if it will please you, Hannah, only I haven’t much of an appetite for them now.”
“Run along!” The housekeeper grinned in spite of herself. “If you can’t eat I guess you can’t.”
“Your cakes look lovely with the pink and white icing,” Nancy praised. “I have an idea! Why not serve them for tea when Ruth and Rodney are here?”
“I might do that,” the housekeeper agreed more cheerfully. “I could make hot chocolate, too. Most folks like it better than tea.”
Nancy danced from the room into her father’s study. There she unlocked a desk drawer and removed the bundle of baby garments and the broken locket. For some time she sat by the window with the articles in her lap, gazing dreamily off into space. If only she could solve the mystery of Jay’s and Janet’s parentage, how happy she would be!
She tried to read a book, but it was impossible to keep her mind upon the printed page. Time passed slowly. Finally the doorbell rang.
Nancy sprang to her feet, and thrust the bundle of baby clothes into the desk drawer. Before Hannah could reach the front door, Nancy had flung it open to admit Miss Brown.
“I kept my promise, you see,” the nurse smiled, following Nancy to the study. “However, I am afraid I must disappoint you.”
“You mean you will not accept the position with the Blairs?”
“I have thought it over, but I can’t see my way clear to work for such people.”
“Then I won’t urge you to do so,” Nancy said quietly, offering Miss Brown a chair. “I have something here I want to show you.”
She took the broken locket from the desk drawer and handed it to the nurse.
“Have you seen this before?”
“Why, yes! It is the one I picked up with the babies!”
“Tell me exactly where you found the locket,” Nancy urged. “Was it along the shore?”
“Oh, no. In the boat itself. It was caught in Janet’s little dress.”
“The locket was broken when you found it?”
“Yes. I don’t know what became of the other half.”
“And where did you find the boat?”
“It was caught in a clump of logs near shore. It was badly battered—doubtless by the storm. It was leaking. If I hadn’t happened along when I did, the babies would have drowned, I’m sure.”
“Or else have died of exposure.”
“Yes. Jay did catch a terrible cold, but I nursed him through it. Fortunately, both the babies were well bundled up at the time.”
“I suppose the old boat was lost,” Nancy remarked casually.
“No, I dragged it out of the water. For a long time it was left by the shore. Then an old riverman hauled it away somewhere.”
This, Nancy thought, was a point worth noting. If only she could locate the man in question, or examine the boat itself, she might stumble upon an important clue.
“Do you know the man’s name?” she asked eagerly.
“Why, yes, I do. It was Enos Crinkle. He has a shack somewhere along the river.”
Before Nancy could question the nurse further, the doorbell rang again. She heard Hannah answer it.
The housekeeper had been instructed previously to show any visitors to the study, so Nancy was ready for Rodney when he entered the room. His face showed that he was puzzled at being requested to call at the Drew home.
An awkward moment followed. The man’s eyes slowly swept the room, and finally rested upon the nurse. Nancy, with her usual composure, then said:
“You two have met before, I believe.”
Recognition flashed over the chauffeur’s face as he stared at Ruth Brown.
“Why, you are the agent for baby foods!”
“And you are the Blairs’ chauffeur,” the nurse returned. “If you have come here to take me to Jolly Folly, you may as well turn around and drive home! I cannot go there!”
Rodney was taken aback at this declaration, for he had not been informed of Nancy’s plan to secure a place for the nurse with the Blairs.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rodney declared.
“You mean Mrs. Blair didn’t send you here after me?”
“Certainly not. I came because Miss Drew requested me to do so.”
Rodney’s eyes moved searchingly to Nancy’s face. He seemed to comprehend the situation, for he added quickly:
“Of course, it’s none of my affair, but the twins do need a good nurse. If you could be persuaded to come, I’d be only too glad to drive you out as soon as the repairs on my car are finished at the garage.”
Nancy could see that Miss Brown was on the verge of refusing a second time. The girl stepped forward, weighing each word lest she spoil everything by saying the wrong thing.
“I have a long story to relate—one which will be of vital interest to both of you. But first let me introduce you. Miss Ruth Brown, may I present Rodney Brown?”
There was a stunned silence as the two stared at each other. The color drained from the chauffeur’s face.
“Ruth Brown!” he murmured dazedly. “What a coincidence! I had a twin sister by that name.”
“And I had a twin brother named Rodney!” the nurse cried. “There must be some mistake. You aren’t my brother, surely?”
“Hear the story I have to tell,” Nancy said quietly.
While the two visitors listened breathlessly, she related the absorbing tale of the baptism.
“I remember now that I was christened by a minister named Stafford,” Rodney said, staring in awe at the nurse. “My mother often told me so.”
“And I still have the baptismal certificate somewhere in my possession!” Ruth added joyfully.
Nancy had never before gazed upon two such radiant faces. Brother and sister were gradually beginning to realize that they had found each other after a long, long separation.