The next morning Alice-Miranda skipped into the hotel foyer to find the Baroness standing beside the grand oval table. She looked to be deep in thought as she removed several wilted roses from a huge floral arrangement. ‘Good morning, Aunt Giselle,’ the child sang.

The old woman looked up and smiled. ‘Hello my darling. Did you sleep well?’

Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘The bed was heavenly and the duvet made me feel like I was sleeping under a cloud.’

‘I am glad,’ Giselle said. ‘Are you off to the slopes this morning?’

‘Yes, but I thought I’d visit Nina first,’ Alice-Miranda said. She spotted a drooping bloom and plucked it from the vase. ‘I’ve missed her, and I can’t wait to introduce her to my friends.’

‘Ah, lovely Nina.’ The old woman sighed, releasing a handful of roses into the basket at her feet. ‘I am afraid I have some bad news.’

Alice-Miranda looked up at the Baroness, wondering what was the matter.

‘I am sorry I did not tell you sooner,’ Giselle said, taking Alice-Miranda’s hands in hers. ‘Nina’s mother passed away almost a year ago. It was a terrible tragedy.’

Alice-Miranda caught her breath, her eyes pricking with tears. ‘What happened?’

The Baroness shook her head. ‘She suffered an aneurysm one morning, after Sebastien had left for work. Lars was downstairs in the museum and Nina was at school. Tragically, no one found Sandrine until it was too late.’

Alice-Miranda pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped her eyes.

‘Oh, my darling.’ Giselle wrapped her arms around the girl.

‘How are Nina and her family?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

‘Her grandfather is not coping well at all. There is talk that he may have to be moved into a nursing home,’ the old woman said.

Alice-Miranda couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘But what about the museum?’ she asked.

‘It is closed,’ the Baroness said gently.

A tear ran down Alice-Miranda’s cheek. ‘It’s horrible and so unfair.’

‘Life is not fair,’ Giselle said, touching the girl’s cheek and brushing a tear away. ‘There are things we will never understand and sometimes I think it is even too hard to try.’

‘I should go and see her. Will you let Mummy and the others know where I am?’ Alice-Miranda said, looking up at the Baroness.

Giselle nodded. ‘Of course.’

Alice-Miranda hurried out the front door and across the snowy street. The fresh powder crunched under her feet while the sun shone brightly overhead. To her left, the Matterhorn towered above the village, a vast crag of white under a winter blanket.

She knocked on one of the mint-green doors. A handwritten sign taped to the other door declared the museum closed. Alice-Miranda waited for a minute before knocking again. This time she could hear movement on the stairs and the sound of running feet. The door opened to reveal a girl with two long plaits tumbling over her shoulders. She was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved navy shirt with tiny white spots on it.

Alice-Miranda smiled at her friend. ‘Hello Nina.’

‘Alice-Miranda! What are you doing here?’ Nina exclaimed. She rushed out onto the front step, and the two children hugged each other fiercely. ‘It is so good to see you.’

The girls stepped back and looked at one another. ‘Aunt Giselle just told me,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘I am so sorry.’

Nina nodded, her eyes filling with tears which she hastily brushed away. ‘Me too.’

‘I don’t know what to say.’ Alice-Miranda reached into her pocket for a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. ‘Your mother was always so kind to me.’

‘She was kind to everyone.’ Nina smiled. ‘How long are you staying for?’

‘We’ll be here until next weekend, then we go back to St Moritz,’ Alice-Miranda said. She thought for a moment. ‘Do you have school today?’

Nina shook her head. ‘We are on a break this week.’

‘Who is it, Nina?’ The sound of Sebastian Ebersold’s footsteps echoed on the stairs.

‘Papa, it’s Alice-Miranda.’ The girl turned to her father. He didn’t miss the look of delight on her face – something he hadn’t seen for a long time.

‘Hello Herr Ebersold,’ Alice-Miranda said. She stepped forward, unable to help herself from giving Nina’s father a hug. ‘I am so sorry about Frau Ebersold.’

The man’s kind eyes glistened. ‘Thank you, my dear,’ he said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘It is lovely to see you.’

‘Likewise,’ Alice-Miranda said with a grin. ‘Would you mind if Nina joins me and my friends today?’

‘That sounds wonderful,’ Sebastien said. He knew his daughter hadn’t been on the mountain since her mother had passed away. It was almost as if she were afraid to leave the house unnecessarily lest she lose another loved one.

‘We’ll be leaving as soon as everyone has finished their breakfast. We were a bit late getting up today,’ Alice-Miranda said.

Nina bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t go. Unless you are not working today, Papa?’

She knew it was unlikely as her father oversaw a large team in charge of resort maintenance. They were responsible for ensuring the chairlifts were in good order, the runs were clearly marked and just about everything else to do with creating a safe environment for the skiers.

Nina’s father shook his head. ‘You should ski,’ he insisted. ‘I want you to have some fun. I will ask Frau Gisler if she can sit with Opa.’ He ran down the front steps and over to a cluster of houses down the street.

Nina turned to Alice-Miranda. ‘Opa has started to wander,’ she said by way of explanation. ‘Frau Gisler used to babysit me when I was small. It seems strange that it is now Opa who needs a babysitter.’

The ringing of bells sounded as the town clock struck nine. ‘I’d better go and find everyone,’ Alice-Miranda said, giving her friend another hug before turning to leave. ‘I’ll be back in half an hour. I hope you can come with us.’

‘Me too,’ Nina smiled, waving from the doorway.

Delphine Doerflinger held the phone away from her ear and waited for her husband to stop talking.

‘I am sorry I had to leave so suddenly, but there has been a small hiccup with our acquisition,’ she said. ‘No, no, there is absolutely no need for you to come here. I will be home again very soon.’ After saying goodbye, Delphine ended the call.

She stood up and paced around the room. The last thing she needed was for Otto to interfere. Delphine sighed and returned to the matter at hand. There could only be one explanation for Von Zwicky backing out of the deal: someone else was helping him, and that some one was Hugh Kennington-Jones. She remembered bumping into his infernally happy child while on the way to meet her colleagues. Knowing those Dummkopfs, they’d probably been boasting and the girl overheard them. Why else would her father have hurried to Zermatt to help the Baron with his business?

The woman flipped open her purse and rummaged around for some headache tablets. She rubbed her temples, aware that if she didn’t catch it now, the dull throb would turn into something much worse and she couldn’t afford to be laid up for the rest of the day.

So far Delphine had managed to avoid the brat and her family, but it was such a cumbersome affair. It would have been easier if only there were more guests, but that was a problem of her own making. More than ever, she needed to find that access route. Otherwise, everything she had been working so hard to gain would be lost.