"But I won't stand it!" he exclaimed passionately. "I will come back."
"As a clown?" said she, smiling.
"I'll buy a part interest in the show," he said stubbornly.
"You are not of age," she reminded him. "The courts will name a guardian for you, I fancy. No, my boy, we must face the thing squarely. We shall be glad to see you if you happen to be where we may meet naturally."
"But I love Christine," he protested. "You told me last night that you would put no obstacle in our way to—"
"I told you last night that I would put no obstacle in your way, David, if you came to me in five years and still could say that you love her and would make her your wife."
"But we thought then that I might always be near her—with the show, perhaps," he argued.
"Quite true. But all that is blotted out, don't you see."
Christine was weeping silently.
"You think I'll forget her!" he cried angrily.