Alice-Miranda in the Alps Read Online Free PDF Page A

his arms. ‘Gertie, my precious. What has upset you so?’ He glared at the bellboy.
    â€˜I d-d-don’t know,’ the fellow stammered. ‘She did not take kindly to my attentions.’
    Otto turned to Cecelia. ‘My apologies, madame, please let me help you.’ He tried to bend down and pick up the cards but negotiating his stomach and the dog was proving too difficult.
    Delphine rolled her eyes, then swooped down and gathered the keys herself. ‘Here, let me get them sorted for you.’
    â€˜No, please don’t fuss,’ Cecelia insisted. ‘It won’t take a minute to work it out when we’re upstairs. You have somewhere to be.’
    â€˜Yes, of course.’ Frau Doerflinger smiled tightly and handed over the key cards. ‘Otto, please see that our guests have everything they need,’ she said sternly before striding away.
    â€˜I wouldn’t want to be Herr Fanger tonight,’ Millie whispered to Alice-Miranda and Sloane.
    Sloane nodded. ‘She’s fierce.’
    â€˜I am terribly sorry about that,’ Otto said. ‘Gertie is a little overly enthusiastic at times. Please, may I personally invite you all to a cocktail reception in the lounge at six o’clock tonight? Might I ask how long you will be staying with us?’
    â€˜We’ll be here until the weekend,’ Hugh replied. ‘We usually ski in Zermatt but my wife’scompany, Highton’s, are sponsoring one of the races on Sunday.’
    â€˜Ah, Zermatt – another lovely resort,’ the man replied. ‘But, alas, it does not have the White Turf. It is the most glorious spectacle – all those beautiful people and beautiful horses on that beautiful frozen lake. There is so much beauty your eyes will ache.’
    The children giggled.
    â€˜Where, may I ask, do you stay when you are in Zermatt?’ Otto asked.
    â€˜The Grand Hotel Von Zwicky,’ Hugh replied.
    â€˜It’s owned by our dear friend the Baron,’ Cecelia added.
    â€˜That is a lovely hotel,’ Otto agreed. ‘I would like to own it myself.’
    â€˜Sadly, Herr Fanger, I don’t think it will be for sale anytime soon,’ Hugh replied. ‘The Baron and Baroness love their hotel as much as you love yours.’
    Otto chuckled. ‘Yes, we will see.’
    Hugh frowned, wondering exactly what the man meant by that.
    Gertie barked loudly.
    â€˜What is it, my princess?’ Otto leaned towards the mutt, whose tongue shot out and licked him on the side of his lip.
    Sloane screwed up her nose. ‘Gross,’ she whispered.
    â€˜I think my baby is wanting her supper,’ Otto said with a grin. ‘See you again soon,’ he trilled as Brigitte guided the family to the lift at the end of the corridor.

    Delphine Doerflinger checked her watch as she rushed down the stairs. Her delivery would be arriving any minute and she still had to check the paperwork. She swiped her key card, then pushed the door open and hurried along to a small lift.
    Delphine reached inside her skirt pocket, her fingers searching the folds of the fabric. Her stomach lurched and her heart began to hammer like a drum when she realised the key was gone. Had she left it upstairs? No, she remembered putting it in her pocket as she always did. Delphine breathed deeply.
    â€˜Calm down and think,’ she muttered to herself. ‘Where could you have lost it?’
    It must have fallen out when that confounding animal caused all the fuss, Delphine thought. There was no time to search for it now. She’d have to find it later, and thankfully there was the spare in heroffice safe. Even though she couldn’t imagine anyone would know what to do with it, the idea that a key to the Fanger’s vault was lost in the hotel was unsettling to say the least.

Millie pulled back the floor-to-ceiling curtains in the enormous bedroom she and Alice-Miranda were sharing. The windows