"Do you then really think, Ella," said Mrs. Harding, "that a young lady cannot make herself as thoroughly acquainted with a man's real qualities as to put any serious mistake in marriage entirely out of the question?"
"To me, I must confess that marriage seems very much like a lottery," answered Ella. "We may get a prize, but there are ten chances to one of our getting a blank."
"If you choose to make it a lottery, it will no doubt become so; but if entered into from right motives, there is no danger of this being the case."
"I don't know what you call right motives," said one; "but I'll tell you a necessary pre-requisite in the man who is to make me a husband."
"Well, child, what is it?"
"Plenty of money. I'm not going to be a poor man's wife, and work myself to death, all for love—no, not I!"
"I'll have a handsome man for a husband, or none," remarked another.
"Give me splendid talents," said a third.
"And what must you have, Ella?" asked Mrs. Harding, turning to the one she addressed.
"All three, if I can get them," replied Ella.