“You will not, of course, suppose that every bachelor among us finds his mates at the first wooing in this universal Marriage Chorus. On the contrary, the process is by most of us many times repeated. Few are the hearts whose happy lot it is at once to recognize in each other’s voices the partner intended for them by Providence, and to fly into a reciprocal and perfectly harmonious embrace. With most of us the courtship is of long duration. The wooer’s voices may perhaps accord with one of the future wives, but not with both; or not, at first, with either; or the soprano and contralto may not quite harmonize. In such cases Nature has provided that every weekly Chorus shall bring the three lovers into closer harmony. Each trial of voice, each fresh discovery of discord, almost imperceptibly induces the less perfect to modify his or her vocal utterance so as to approximate to the more perfect. And after many trials and many approximations, the result is at last achieved. There comes a day at last, when, while the wonted Marriage Chorus goes forth from universal Lineland, the three far-off lovers suddenly find themselves in exact harmony, and, before they are awake, the wedded triplet is rapt vocally into a duplicate embrace; and Nature rejoices over one more marriage and over three more births.”