He was alone, and very wet.
"What ho, Mum!" he observed, after the fashion of the present generation.
"My son!" exclaimed Lady Adela, advancing with outstretched arms.
Dicky, enduring a somewhat lengthy embrace, suddenly caught sight of a small alert figure on the sofa. Curtailing the maternal caress as gently as possible, he darted forward.
"Connie!" he cried enthusiastically. "What tremendous luck meeting you!" He shook his ancient ally by both hands.
"I want you more at this moment," he continued earnestly, "than at any other period of my life."
Connie Carmyle pointed an accusing finger at him.
"Dicky Mainwaring," she enquired sternly, "where is your lady friend?"
"I was just going to introduce her," replied Dicky, with a rapturous smile. "I wonder where she has got to, by the way. Found a mirror, I expect."
Then he raised his voice and cried:--