At first
he had been so sure that in a day or two at most she would be sorry,
and want to see him; somehow he could not believe that the little
unselfish girl he had known all his life could so determinedly make up
her mind and stick to it.
He grumbled and growled to Sangster every time they met.
"I was a fool to let her go. The law is on my side; I could have
insisted that she stayed with me." He looked at his friend. "_I could
have insisted, I say!_" he repeated.
Sangster raised his eyes.
"I'm not denying it; but it's much wiser as it is. Leave her alone,
and things will work out their own salvation."
"She'll forget all about me, and then what will happen?" Jimmy
demanded. "A nice thing--a very nice thing that would be."
"No doubt she thinks that is what you wish her to do."
Jimmy called him a fool; he threw a half-smoked cigarette into the
fire, and sat watching it burn with a scowl on his face.
The last week had seemed endless. He had kept away from the club; the
men in the club always knew everything--he had learned that by previous
experience; he had no desire for the shower of chaff which he knew
would greet his appearance there.
Married a week--and now Christine had gone! It made his soul writhe to
think of it. It had hurt enough to be jilted; but this--well, this
struck at his pride even more deeply.
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