Having come as close to the subject of John Percival Hackworth's 
disappearance as they dared, and careened past it with no damage except some 
hot faces and watery eyes, Lord Finkle-McGraw and Mrs. Hackworth had withdrawn, 
by mutual consent, to cooler subjects. The girls would come inside to drink 
some hot chocolate, and then it would be time for the guests to repair to the 
quarters assigned them for the day, where they could freshen up and dress for 
the main event: dinner.