What can readers infer about the woman based on this excerpt from ""Arrangement in black and white

She is at a formal party.

She is elegantly dressed.

Explanation:

Dorothy Parker's short story Arrangement in Black and White is set during a dinner party where our protagonist is in conversation with the host of the party. The party, hosted for the main guest Walter Williams, was a black man who is a musician. The "woman with the pink velvet poppies" admires Mr. Williams but her husband does not approve, for Mr. Williams is black. The whole plot of the story revolves around the theme of race and class difference, which even the woman seems to exhibit though she kept on implying she isn't like her husband.

The lines given in the question are from the first paragraph of the story. The speaker introduces our protagonist as a "woman with the pink velvet poppies wreathed round the assisted gold of her hair". Considering her appearance and how she "traversed the crowded room at an interesting gait", moving towards the host, we can assume that she is in a formal party and so, she will also be elegantly dressed.

a is the indefinite article