She laughs beautifully.

"I thought you did a wonderful job as the back half of a horse."

"It was the height of my career. I'm never going to be able to top the pathos I brought to that role," he says, tongue firmly in his cheek.

"I'm sure you'd do equally well as the front half of the horse."

"With good luck, maybe I'd even be able to land the role of the dame."

"But the villain is the best part. All the actors I know agree. The villain is the part you can have... fun... with."

"It is a fun time to get to chew the scenery." Chewing the scenery: fun. Chewing the scenery as an ~evil mandarin~: ...less fun.

"It's why I'm Carmilla here! The villainess always has the best time."

"Ooh, Carmilla is a good choice."

"Thank you." She kisses his cheek. "I'd like to get to see a lot more of you."

...Assuming she is flirting with him is probably wishful thinking. (Though he would really, really like it to be the case.) "It's a good thing we run in the same circles then."

She smiles. "It certainly is."

And she disappears into the rest of the party.

...and now he is actually bereft. Ruby seems to have disappeared, probably with the aforementioned sailor? He is going to have to apologise when he next sees her. ...and come up with an apology better than 'In my defense: Evie.' ...He is going to sit down and be somewhere quieter. He glances up at the balcony. It looks like Terrence is up there. ...Terrence, especially when diluted with other people, is better than standing alone at the punch bowls.

Meanwhile-- 

Immaculately trimmed and perfectly kept-up, the garden looks like an illustration from a book. There’s a bench by the fountain, or a space to stand near the peonies. In the poorly lit garden, you can hear the whispers of hushed conversation, but you can’t see who might be talking; it’s the most secretive place in the ball.

Dr. Frankenstein and her creation race to a dark corner, giggling.

Violet came here to dance, and she's been dancing. Some. It's fun and exciting and wild and she loves it but it's also rather loud and there are quite a lot of people, and she's dressed herself up as a lovely bird with a full-face mask and a feathered wig and a boa for effect and this was perfect for looking nice and being unrecognizable but she is also starting to sweat.

So now she's outside, where it's cool and dark, and she is looking at the flowers.

Unfortunately for her there are two giggling people RIGHT NEXT TO THE FOLLOWERS.

Obviously engaged in some matter of Shenanigan.

Well, she's not totally opposed to other people. Not if they're up to something interesting. She listens in. Unfortunately, with a bird mask on, it will be obvious if she turns to observe, but she can do her best.

Giggle giggle giggle. "Ooh, what's that?"

"I'm pretty sure it's the spleen-- if we had a better light--"

"Do you think we can take it into the party?"

"I don't think we can take it into the party."

"What is the point of being an eccentric avant-garde artist if I can't take dead bodies into the party."

Okay what the fuck now she's definitely looking. She'd prefer not to get up close and personal with them but she will if she must for the sake of seeing what the dead thing is.

"Hi! We found a dead bird."

"Ah! A relative." (Get it, because her costume--) Her voice is quiet and breathy. "I wonder what killed it." It was obviously killed, right? Its spleen is apparently visible?