Rich chestnut hair piled stylishly atop her head, the lengths were left to fall in a cascade of waves from beneath her stylish, dove grey chapeau. The stately lines of her ice blue and pale grey evening gown wove perfectly into the charcoal suit of the tall man beside her, their slow steps as they ascended the polished granite stairs in perfect time.

"Da, Papa. Of course." Baronessa Galina Demidova smiled sweetly up to the stately gentleman at her side, her gloved hand resting elegantly on his arm. He cut such a dashing figure still, salt and pepper hair cut short about the nape of his neck, his neatly trimmed beard lending a certain gravitas to his presence that Galina found eminently comforting.

"Tonight will be most... Abundant." Galina laughed, her thickly accented voice warbled in the evening air between them, filled with warm music. 

Dark laughing eyes, the very match of her own, looked down at her full of tender affection and unending devotion. How he loved the sound of her voice. In another life he mused, she might have been an opera singer, a chanteuse to make men weep with joy or despair at the slightest whim of inflection. But that life would have to be one lived without duty, without honor or fealty or undying purpose. Even so, Baron Vasily Demidov would take what enjoyment he could in this world. He was, after all, one of only a handful of men who heard his daughter's unparalleled voice, and continued to walk this good Earth.

A smile to match her own as he spoke, reaching to tuck a stray curl back behind her ear. "Third floor office, fourth door to the right. Not terribly original, but these are Americans after all, lacking a subtlety that many long centuries will bring a people. You will be on your own from there. God watch over your every least step, [i]moya malen'kaya noch' volk.[/i]"*

"He watches over my every least breath Papa; knows the number of hairs on my head." Galina patted her father's arm with her gloved fingers, gentle reassurance. "Shall we?" She nodded her head to the top of the stairs with a knowing smile.

Introductions were made, Baron Demidov politely acquainting his daughter with Mr. and Mrs. Winchester, a great deal of small talk made with the charming Russian nobleman so well-connected with the Tsar, the entirety of the Romanov family in truth, and wasn't that just lovely? Nobility was so rare to find in America, much less here in California! And isn't your daughter simply lovely - perhaps some of our gentle guests will help the sweet child find her voice, and practice her English if she should wish? We pray you will find Americans to be some of the friendliest people in all the world, sir...

And with precious little fanfare, the wolves traipsed into the sheep pen through the front gate.

(( *[i]my little night wolf[/i] ))