"Are all marriages unhappy?"
"Millions of marriages are unhappy. If everybody confessed the truth, perhaps all are more or less so."
"You are always vexed when you are asked to come and marry a couple. Why?"
"Because one does not like to act as accessory to the commission of a piece of pure folly."
Mr. Helstone spoke so readily, he seemed rather glad of the opportunity to give his niece a piece of his mind on this point. Emboldened by the impunity which had hitherto attended her questions, she went a little further.
"But why," said she, "should it be pure folly? If two people like each other, why shouldn't they consent to live together?"

"Are all marriages unhappy?"
"Millions of marriages are unhappy. If everybody confessed the truth, perhaps all are more or less so."
"You are always vexed when you are asked to marry a couple. Why?"
"Because one does not like to act as accessory to a piece of pure folly."
Mr. Helstone seemed rather glad of the opportunity to give his niece a piece of his mind on this point. Emboldened, she went a little further.
"But why," said she, "should it be pure folly? If two people like each other, why shouldn't they live together?"
