Sentence:  The <WSD>departure</WSD> was not unduly prolonged. In the road Mr. Love and the driver favoured the company with a brief chanty running: “Got it?—No, I ain't, 'old on,—Got it? Got it?—No, 'old on sir.” 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The act of departing or something that has departed.