parlor ; observing
The delivered invitation was enough to grant him entry to the Murray House. Dracula did wonder if the women of the home knew just what they had opened their doors to on this night, but it mattered not; it served him well. An opportunity to get close to Miss Ives was rare indeed--without drawing suspicion, no less--and the circumstances were ideal. It was easy to blend in at a party. And blending in, that was exactly his intention.
He arrived neither late nor early. His clothing suggested wealth, though not an excess of it. And, of course, he had an alias at the ready, the same he used in the book which had found its way into his possession. There was always some interest directed toward a foreigner but tonight the whispers swirled elsewhere, around others, mainly the hosts.
Ah, Mina. He knew she was here-- all in good time. He had lured her once, a moth to flame, and he could certainly do so again.
For now, he was content to wander. He was polite, a drink accepted in the sitting room before he moved on. The parlor was where he found himself after a time, where men and women sat around a table in the dimly-lit room and listened to the fortune teller, or whatever she called herself, prophesize for all to hear. While he had met those who did possess a... gift of some sort many years ago, in a land far from London, Dracula doubted that this woman was genuine. Entertainment and little else.