Holly listened in rapt attention as Freya explained how she had tried to bring Captain Bell to Bun Manor on their outing. She figured that Freya would have expressed an intention towards the rabbit, but never expected Freya to ride a wild beast out to her estate with him.

“So… I was so caught up with welcoming the suitors, asking them questions, and doing the whole song and dance that my mother asked me to do that I completely forgot until now that Captain Bell never paid a visit," Holly said, "I thought about sending for him but you both found that I was already attending to the too many. It would have been nice to grab and hold his attention."

“I understand that you think I am trying to snatch away this officer from you but rest assured my intentions towards him are more of a business nature,” Freya said.

Holly finally felt Freya had made her case convincingly. Lady Raina nodded as Abigail sipped tea.

“Speaking of business,” Lady Raina said, “Lady Abigail, did you learn anything new about Lord Richards’ business? What about you, Freya? I understand you had a visit from the Cobblers. Holly, pay attention to what they think is important.”

“I’m pretty sure that the Cobbler brothers are terrible at business,” Freya said. “They had no tact and their gaudy getups were quite a turnoff.”

Abigail tipped her head, considering. “Do you know, for some reason, I got onto the topic of practice swords, and Lord Richards said that he was selling a lot more of those recently. Do you have any idea why?”

“I do not. Tulip, let’s make a note to look into that, shall we?” Lady Raina turned her attention then to her niece. “Do you see how they talk about their suitors?”

Holly parsed the words. Her tea had grown cold as she tried to think of just what her aunt might consider significant.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Freya, when she talks, she talks about how the person came across, and to be frank she doesn’t like these two. It sounds like she is just looking for a reason to say no to them. Abigail remembers what they discussed, and how he responded, so I think that she already knows that she likes Lord Richards and that they can talk about a shared passion,” Holly said.

“Very perceptive. You know that Abigail is in a particularly difficult position because of the very small amount of foxes that are landed gentry, so she has to make certain that she makes the right match when she has the chance. It sounds like Freya is able and willing to take her time or, in other words” - here she turned to Freya - “she can rule out suitors more slowly.”

Freya nodded.

“And therefore she can afford to entertain more suitors, in the hopes of narrowing down a large field of mice and rabbits.”

“Lady Raina,” Holly said, “I think it would be useful for us to figure out how long we should expect to spend doing this. I know that a lot of matches happen each year, but I’ve also heard of a lot of people not finding the right one for a couple of seasons.”

Lady Raina fanned herself.

“Ah, here we are now, and for this, I’ll ask my wonderful Tulip to remind me of something I’ve asked her to study. I think that we will end on that note today,” she said.

Tulip appeared behind Freya with a notepad in her hand. Three heads whipped around to look at her.

“Of the three hundred singletons that appeared during last year's festivals overwinter, about a third of them found matches with each other. Two-thirds did not match that year,” Tulip said. “Keep in mind that this was a sample poll done through the stewards of the houses. Although we know the total number of matches and not, other arrangements may have been put into place. Putting that into perspective, the average prospect should expect to make a match within three years.”

“Thank you,” Freya said.

Tulip nodded and returned to the arched doorway, leaning back into it.

“Learn from each other, so that when one of you fails, the other two understand the lesson behind it. In this cruel world, all we really have are the friends that we make along the way.” Lady Raina paused to sip her tea. “I ask that you consider your sisters when you make plans, as together you are strong.”