noon
`` Yes , '' says Colonel Esmond . He knew full well , Frank knew full well : our instinct told whither that traitor had fled . He had courage to turn to the company and say , `` Gentlemen , I fear very much that Mr. George will not be here to-day ; something hath happened -- and -- and -- I very much fear some accident may befall him , which must keep him out of the way . Having had your noon 's draught , you had best pay the reckoning and go home ; there can be no game where there is no one to play it . '' Some of the gentlemen went away without a word , others called to pay their duty to her Majesty and ask for her health . The little army disappeared into the darkness out of which it had been called ; there had been no writings , no paper to implicate any man . Some few officers and Members of Parliament had been invited over night to breakfast at the `` King 's Arms , '' at Kensington ; and they had called for their bill and gone home .