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When it comes to marriage, only the very best will do

A single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife, according to Jane Austen.

Now we are to believe that a woman in possession of a 30th birthday card must be in desperate want of a husband.

In fact, she should marry whoever is to hand, so great is the danger that she will grow unlovable overnight; that she will, therefore, live alone and lonely.