A country doctors falls in love with one of his patients but discontinues seeing her because he is already married - to a ballet dancer who deserted him. During a trip to his home town he witnesses her fall to her death during a tight-rope act at a variety theatre, and discovers that she had been married before she married him, so that with her death he is doubly free. A final twist reveals her as the cousin of the girl he loves, daughter to the aunt of many tragedies whom she lived with. (PB)