#you could go easily there if you wanted. the footprints *and* dracula being aware or even just one of the two

[vickyvicarious]

The room was empty! It was barely furnished with odd things, which seemed to have never been used; the furniture was something the same style as that in the south rooms, and was covered with dust. I looked for the key, but it was not in the lock, and I could not find it anywhere.

Jonathan finds Dracula's room largely empty and clearly unused. This is naturally very disturbing, but he still makes a thorough search for the key that will free him.

The room is covered in dust.

Vampires don't disturb the dust when they walk; we saw as much on May 16. But people do, and Jonathan is searching the room. He's walking across the floor at the very least, to get a close look at the treasure pile and to go through the door leading down to the chapel. But since he's looking for a key, he's also probably checking in what little furniture there is.

Is he leaving a trail of footprints in the dust? The sentence structure might just be implying that only the furniture is dusty here, not the floor, so maybe not. But then, he's possibly looking in the furniture, and no matter how he tries he'd likely disturb some of the dust in doing so. Even beyond just this room, Jonathan goes barefoot down into the chapel and crypts, where the ground has been dug. Even if his footprints weren't noticeable in the freshly-overturned earth, he might have picked up some dirt on his feet. When he fled back upstairs, did he carry some? Did he leave a trace of his presence?

(Of course, the fact that Dracula stared right at him later would surely be the most obvious way to know he had been there. But Jonathan seemed to believe the Count was fully asleep and unaware despite his open eyes and angry expression. And even if he had seen Jonathan... Dracula could be a lawyer, he's able to think like one. And what's the one thing Jonathan himself always, always looks for? Evidence to confirm what he's seen. If Dracula saw him but there's no proof so he dismisses it as a dream, that's one thing; if he saw him and then found proof that it was true, that's another.)