Page 83 of The Chalet Girl

‘This is beautiful,’ Vivian said warmly, as she stroked the shoulder of Lumi’s powder-blue Oscar de la Renta gown. Her hand landed near Lumi’s Cartier panther bangle. ‘And this too!’

‘Thank you,’ Lumi said, shooting Walter a look. ‘You look stunning, as ever.’

Vivian smiled modestly.

‘And my son Lysander is here from New York…’ Walter looked around. ‘Over there somewhere.’

‘Well, do come in,’ Viktor said. ‘Make yourselves at home.’

When Anastasia Steinherr Diamandis turned up alone in red Valentino and a fur coat, just gone 3.30pm, Tiago spotted her first. She snatched a flute of champagne from a tray Gerard was circulating with and knocked it back, placing the damp and empty glass on top of the Steinway. Gerard looked horrified and deftly removed the glass as the pianist played ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ with a frown.

‘Shit,’ Tiago muttered to himself, wondering whether he should let Cat know, or whether she would be best not knowing from the sanctuary of the kitchen. Anastasia already looked half cut, and she looked like a woman on a mission.

‘Lobster roll, ma’am?’ Tiago said, proffering the slate.

‘No,’ she said.

‘Well, will you let my colleague take your coat?’ Tiago nodded to a maid, who came over with a plush hanger. Tiago realised that buying time was a bit hopeless when she’d just sunk a glass of champagne without letting it touch the sides. Anastasia took off her fur and almost dropped it at the maid’s feet.

‘Thanks,’ she slurred, as she continued into the party with a bitter and predatory gait.

‘Ah, there you are!’ Dimitri said, looking at his wife with flaccid concern. Anastasia scanned the room with hooded lids, barely acknowledging her husband. ‘Everything alright?’ he asked, looking for someone carrying a tray of water.

Anastasia shot him a reproachful look.

‘Mummy!’ cried Ophelia, running over. ‘There’s a games room! Orfeas got to meet a grizzly bear on the VR!’

Anastasia looked at her daughter almost without recognition, but she patted her head.

‘That’s nice,’ she said, with disinterest.

‘Why don’t you see if you can see the bear, sweetheart,’ Dimitri said softly.

Ophelia smiled and ran off.

‘Where’s my father?’ Anastasia spat at her husband. Dimitri looked around the vast open room, which was now full of the great and the good of Kristalldorf mingling over drinks.

‘He was chatting with the Sommars last time I…’ but Anastasia had stalked off before he could finish.

‘Lysander it’s so wonderful to see you back in town!’ Lexy Harrington fawned in a fluster. ‘How is New York?’

Lysander couldn’t remember for the life of him who this woman was, but he responded to her questions and asked benign ones in return, so as not to give himself away. She kept talking about Bill this and Bill that– obviously her husband was someone important– and how she had been to New York several times with work when she lived in London.

‘IloveNew York,’ she cooed. ‘It’s electric!’

Lexy tried to ignore the fact that Lysander Steinherr was looking over her shoulder for most of their conversation, but he did pay a little more attention when she said how much she loved working out of the Alpenrose with his father and Dimitri.

‘I’d say of all the Steinherr properties, the Alpenrose is my favourite,’ she gushed. ‘I didn’t like Vitreum much anyway…’

During a pause in the canapé production, somewhere between the chickpea crostini and the beef sirloin teriyaki, Gerard insisted Tiago and Emme help do a sweep of empty glasses while he and Lydia continued to offer guests full ones. Emme looked to Cat for confirmation.

‘You’ve got five minutes,vamos!’ Cat called, as Emme and Tiago headed out with empty silver trays.

‘I’ll go this way and hit the games room and cinema,’ Tiago said, his bow tie waning a little now. ‘You go that way and do the study and lounge…’ Tiago and Emme swept out in opposite directions, collecting empty glasses as quickly as they could so as not to mess with Cat’s precisetimings. Emme headed left, through the main throng to the library, where empties sat on Viktor Kivvi’s desk and bookshelves. Harry Harrington was sitting on the study’s plump leather sofa looking at the screen of the boy next to him.

‘You having fun there?’ Emme asked the boys as she swept up as many empties onto her tray as she could. Harry nodded vaguely, lost in the screen.

‘Let’s go back on the VR,’ the other boy said, conversing with adults wassoboring, so they ran out, bumping into a man in the doorway.