noon
`` A few years hence , and for us all the troubles which we make for ourselves will be ended ! But the sun and the sea will shine on just the same -- and Love , the supremest power on earth , will still govern mankind , when thrones and kings and empires are no more ! '' His thoughts were destined to bear quick fruition . The morning deepened into noon -- and at that hour a sealed dispatch brought by a sailor , who gave no name and who departed as soon as he had delivered his packet , was handed to the King . It was from the Crown Prince , and ran briefly thus : -- `` At your command , Sir , and by my own desire , I have left the country over which you hold your sovereign dominion . Whither I travel , and how , is my own affair . I shall return no more _ till the Nation demands my service _ , -- whereof I shall doubtless hear should such a contingency ever arise .