[ Not that Dorothea is keen to entertain just any man they run into. She has standards, you know. There are very specific factors of attractiveness, influence, and wealth that she considers before she invests her precious time in a potential future spouse. Not that her objectives haven't shifted in the five years since the war started, but war has a way of changing your perspective on life, she's found.

Arm-in-arm, the two ladies strike out across the green and down the steps that lead toward the greenhouse and the pond. ]

It feels a little surreal being back here, don't you think? It's like our academy days all over again.

[ With much higher stakes, though. ]

What have you been up to these years? Do you still make jewelry and accessories like you did before?