Alice-Miranda in the Alps Read Free Page A

me?’
    â€˜I am deadly serious,’ Delphine replied. ‘He is broke.’
    â€˜Then we must buy it at once. I will be the King of the Alps!’ Otto puffed out his chest and sat up ramrod straight in his chair. ‘Or perhaps just the Baron.’
    Delphine smiled. ‘I do not think the title comes with the hotel, but I am sure we could buy you one if your heart so desires.’
    Otto put his cutlery down on the plate and reached over to take Delphine’s hand into his own. He raised it to his lips and kissed it gently. ‘You are so clever, my love,’ he gushed.
    â€˜And you are clever to know it,’ Delphine replied. ‘I take it that I have your blessing?’
    â€˜My beautiful wife, you have my blessing to do whatever makes you happy.’ Otto released her hand and resumed eating.
    Delphine rolled her eyes. She was a lot of things but beautiful was not one of them. Otto hadn’t married her for her looks. He had married her for her brains, and while her husband liked to think that Fanger’s Palace Hotel was thriving as a result of his years of hard work, that was far from the truth. He had no idea how much it cost to keep the hotelrunning let alone that ridiculous chocolate factory, which was bleeding money like cherry kirsch. If it wasn’t for Delphine and her connections, things would have turned out very differently indeed.
    Fortunately, when Otto’s ancestors had built the hotel many years before, they had the foresight to install a vault. It had steel walls three-feet thick and a patented security system the world’s best safecrackers could not penetrate. People paid handsomely to have their most precious possessions securely stored there, and Delphine had recently attracted some serious deposits, although the increasing demands of one client was giving her indigestion. Delphine drained the last drop of her coffee and stood up.
    â€˜Where are you going?’ Otto asked. He was just beginning to butter his fourth slice of toast.
    â€˜There is work to be done,’ Delphine said. ‘I will see you at the drinks party this evening. Don’t forget to collect your suit. I will not have you wear that other one with the buttons bursting off the front.’
    â€˜I can fit into my other suit just fine,’ Otto sulked.
    Gertie growled.
    â€˜No, you can’t.’ Delphine leaned across and kissed her husband’s forehead, then picked up her folder and strode off.
    Otto sat there for another hour, gobbling down the rest of his toast, which was followed by a large plate of pastries, a second cup of coffee and then two pancakes for good measure. He couldn’t think of a more perfect way to spend the day as his guests stopped to say hello and chat about their planned activities. He was the self-proclaimed King of St Moritz and now there was a chance he could be King of Zermatt as well. Life was indeed very good for Herr Fanger.

The passengers erupted into rapturous applause as the plane slowed to a standstill on the runway at Samedan Airport. Hugh Kennington-Jones’s voice came over the intercom from where he was sitting beside the pilot in the cockpit. The man was in the process of gaining his pilot’s licence and was co-piloting the jet for the first time. ‘Well done, Cyril. That’s the hairiest landing we’ve had in ages.’
    Alice-Miranda turned to Millie, whose face was the colour of her mint-green cardigan. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked.
    The girl breathed a huge sigh of relief. ‘I didn’t think we were going to make it.’
    Dolly Oliver looked over at her friend, who gradually released her from a vice-like grip. ‘May I have my hand back now, Shilly?’
    â€˜I told you we should have stayed home,’ the woman said, her face blanched. ‘I’d rather clean the entrance-hall chandeliers on stilts than face another flight like that.’
    â€˜No