While Lord Drakesheath is serving tea to his guests in the atrium, Richard is enjoying a late-afternoon nap in the village inn. His room, slightly darkened by the drawn curtains, shows the signs of his day's activities. On the dining table a pile of books with titles such as The Beautiful Dead by Theophile Gautier, Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe, and The Feast of Blood by J.M. Rymer, reveal his increasing fascination with the mythology of vampires. On the small bedside table, a pair of recently-cleaned pistols, almost completely concealed by a spare blanket, reveal his equally increasing unease with recent local activities.

At the very instant Princess Carmilla's eyes fall on the scandalous renderings, Richard awakens with a sudden and incontestable shiver. Swearing an oath he snatches the blanket off the pistols, covers himself, and promptly returns to his slumbers.