It's hard if you don't have a partner!
What she meant by that obviously led to wild speculation as to whether she meant the discomfort of holding back sexual desire.
After all, she would be busier but she wanted to try dating on the grounds that it would be difficult if she didn't have a partner.
Isn't it theoretically easier to live alone when one is very busy?
If Isabel had other intentions, perhaps it was with the aim of having a man pay for her life so that she could study without thinking about living expenses, but that was obviously unlikely since David knew that her family had a good economy.
Her father was said to be a high-ranking official in a ministry, earning up to ten times what the average worker could earn.
She couldn't possibly want a boyfriend so that someone would pay for her living expenses, it could only be because she wanted a friend to keep her company in her free time or before going to bed.