There does not seem any authority in the law, or perhaps in principle, for saying that virginity, and still less chastity, is a condition precedent to marriage; and inquiry as to the state of fact in either respect would obviously lead to the most inconvenient discussions and to inquiries which might be subversive of marriage altogether.... Jealousy is Argus-eyed, and ... secret amours will generally reveal themselves by the absence of that modesty and chariness of manner in the woman, which nature has given her not only as her protection against lasciviousness, but as the surest outward indication to the other sex that the jewel is equal to its setting, but which nature withdraws when the woman has been tempted to stoop to folly and protection is no longer required for that which has ceased to exist.
Justice Bell in Horak v. Horak, 3 Searle 389 (1860)