Alice-Miranda in Paris 7

by Jacqueline Harvey

  ‘I love Christian’s gowns. They’re always so beautiful,’ her mother said. ‘And he’s such a sweet man.’

  ‘There’s a big article about him in here.’ Jacinta picked up the magazine she’d been browsing through before her mother arrived.

  Ambrosia scanned the text but it was all written in French.

  Jacinta pointed at one of the photographs. ‘Goodness, Mummy, that poor man is missing a finger.’

  ‘Darling, you’re a genius! I’d recognise that hand anywhere. That’s the man I was talking about earlier.’

  Now all she had to figure out was what Gilbert, the man who showed her the LaBelle Collection, was doing in a photograph with Christian Fontaine.

  ‘This is the strangest church service I’ve ever been to,’ said Sloane as she glanced around. Notre Dame was bursting at the seams with dignitaries, designers and fashion fans. Some were dressed with understated elegance but others appeared to be competing to look the most ridiculous.

  Sep nodded. ‘We don’t know what the service will be like, but the congregation is pretty interesting.’

  ‘Did you see the size of the bow on that woman’s head?’ asked Millie, giggling at a lady who was in danger of being swallowed by the polka dot appendage attached to her forehead.

  ‘And what about that guy over there with the lime green plus-fours and suspenders?’ Sloane was visibly disturbed by the outfit she had just glimpsed from behind.

  ‘That’s Mr Lipp,’ Millie whispered.

  ‘Are you joking?’ Sloane squinted, wondering if she and Millie were looking at the same person.

  Despite the outrageous appearance of some of the congregation, the church service was very traditional. When the children sang their stunning rendition of ‘For the Beauty of the Earth’, the congregation was rapt.

  ‘Oh my goodness, look at those little cutie pies,’ one woman remarked.

  ‘But what is that man out the front wearing?’ the designer Christian Fontaine asked far more loudly than he had intended.

  The Winchesterfield-Fayle teachers were seated in the pew in front of him. Ophelia Grimm turned around and murmured, ‘Yes, what indeed?’

  The final chorus was something to behold. First was a beautiful arrangement of ‘Ave Maria’. Sloane sang the first verse solo. It was followed by an upbeat version of ‘Joyful Joyful’. The choristers executed some rather vigorous dance moves, with Ashima, Susannah, Ivory and Madeline adding their own special routine, which was quickly mimicked by the rest of the group. Alice-Miranda spotted two elderly priests bopping away in a corner and nudged Millie. The priests were in the Monseigneur’s direct line of sight too. The man drew in a great gasp of breath. It looked as if the fathers were about to be given extra confessional duties. Then he rocked about in his seat, laughing his head off.

  During the rehearsals, Mr Trout’s organ skills had been recognised by the priest in charge of music in the cathedral. Now, as the service ended, Mr Trout had been given the honour of playing solo while the congregation left the church.

  ‘Well done, everyone,’ cheered Mr Lipp as he met the children outside. The fashion luminaries had exited through the front doors and were now besieged by hundreds of paparazzi all clamouring to get the best shot.

  ‘That was fun, Mr Lipp,’ said Figgy. The tall boy was grinning and re-enacting some of his earlier dance moves. ‘And your pants are wicked.’

  ‘That would be one word for them,’ Deidre Winterbottom whispered to Ophelia Grimm.

  Cecelia Highton-Smith and her sister had sat with the Finkelsteins and Madame Crabbe. They had enjoyed the performance immensely and rushed through the crowds to congratulate the children.

  ‘Hello Mama, Papa,’ Lucinda greeted her parents. She had sat with Miss Grimm and Mrs Winterbottom close to the choir. ‘Did you have a good day?’

  ‘Hello Lucinda.’ Her father leaned down to kiss her cheek and her mother gave her a firm hug.

  ‘Yes, your father and I have had a wonderful day,’ Gerda replied. She held her hand up and Lucinda noticed a large blue stone sparkling on her mother’s middle finger.

  ‘Mama, what’s that?’ She grabbed her mother’s hand and admired the ring.

  ‘It’s about time your mother had a special anniversary present. Twenty years is long enough to put up with anyone, let alone me,’ said Morrie.

  ‘Morrie Finkelstein, you old charmer.’ Cecelia winked at him. Even Morrie’s brillo pad hair seemed to blush.

  Ophelia Grimm was working at top speed to round up the overexcited choristers. Some were complaining of being hungry and it was getting late. Tomorrow would be a big day with the LaBelle show too. ‘I’m sorry to break up this happy party,’ she called to the families and friends, ‘but I’m afraid these children have to eat and we must get everyone back to the hotel. Of course, if you’re happy to eat cheese pizzas, you’re welcome to join us.’

  Cecelia gave Alice-Miranda a final cuddle and said, ‘I think we’ll pass. I’ve got some calls to make.’

  ‘And I have work to do too,’ Charlotte added.

  ‘But we’ll see you all tomorrow at the Ritz. From what I could see of the flowers being delivered this afternoon, the LaBelle show is going to be spectacular,’ said Cecelia.

  ‘And we’ll pass too, Miss Grimm,’ Morrie Finkelstein said. ‘Lucinda’s bothers, Toby and Ezekiel, have arranged dinner for the family. I think they’ve walked every street in the Latin Quarter this afternoon looking for the best restaurant for us.’

  Lucinda’s face fell. She would much rather spend the rest of the evening with Alice-Miranda and her new friends.

  ‘Lucinda,’ Gerda scolded, ‘please don’t look like that. You will see Alice-Miranda again. Your father managed to get tickets to the LaBelle show tomorrow.’

  ‘Oh! That’s fantastic.’ Alice-Miranda rushed forward and hugged her friend. Lucinda’s mood was vastly cheered by this news.

  Final farewells were said and the children fell into their usual formation. As they followed Miss Grimm and Mr Grump through the backstreets of Saint Germain, Alice-Miranda found herself beside Mr Plumpton. Millie and Sloane were walking ahead and seemed engrossed in their conversation, so Alice-Miranda decided that it was the perfect opportunity to bring up a delicate topic.

  ‘Excuse me, sir,’ she said as she trotted beside him.

  ‘Yes, Alice-Miranda, how can I help?’

  ‘I was just thinking that it was so sad for Miss Reedy and Jacinta to miss out on tonight’s performance,’ she replied.

  ‘Yes, indeed. It was a beautiful service. Absolutely unique,’ Mr Plumpton said.

  ‘A bit like Miss Reedy and Jacinta,’ Alice-Miranda noted.

  The teacher looked down at her with a puzzled expression. ‘I don’t quite follow.’

  ‘Well, the service this evening was unique and we all know there is no one else like Jacinta. She’s amazing at gymnastics and she’s funny and underneath all those tantrums she used to throw there’s a good friend with a heart of gold,’ Alice-Miranda explained.

  ‘Oh, I see,’ Mr Plumpton nodded.

  ‘And Miss Reedy is the cleverest English teacher in the world and she’s so kind and loyal,’ Alice-Miranda began.

  ‘And pretty.’ The words escaped from Mr Plumpton’s mouth before he had time to stop them.

  Alice-Miranda grinned. ‘Mr Plumpton, did you just say what I think you did?’

  ‘Um, ah, yes I suppose I did,’ the teacher admitted, blushing.

  ‘May I say something, sir?’ The tiny child looked at him earnestly.

  ‘If you must.’ Mr Plumpton wondered what on earth she could possibly add to the conversation. He was feeling terribly embarrassed already.

  ‘Miss Reedy likes you too.’ Alice-Miranda winked and scurried off to catch up with Millie and Sloane.

  Josiah Plumpton gulped. His nose glowed like Rudolf’s and inside he was fit to burst.

  ‘What are you looking so happy about, Plumpy?’ asked Mr Lipp as he caught up to him.

>   ‘Just being in Paris, Mr Lipp. That’s enough to lift anyone’s spirits, I should think.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so. Look, I was rather hoping for some advice. I’m planning to ask Miss Reedy if she’d like to accompany me on an evening out on our last night in Paris. I’ve already asked Prof Winterbottom for the time off and he’s agreed. Anyway, you’ve worked with her for a long time. Do you know if she likes opera or would she prefer a candlelight dinner instead?’

  Mr Plumpton gulped. He could hardly believe his ears. ‘I . . . I wouldn’t have a clue, Mr Lipp. Miss Reedy’s a very private woman and I have no idea of her preferred tastes. I’m afraid you’ll just have to work that out for yourself. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to ask Miss Grimm something quite urgently.’

  Mr Plumpton rushed off towards the head of the line, leaving Harry Lipp walking beside Lucas and Sep. He shrugged and wondered what was so urgent that Plumpy had to run away like a skittish schoolboy.

  ‘Evening lads,’ he interrupted the boys’ conversation. ‘If you were planning to take a girl out for the night, would you go for the opera, or a candlelight dinner?’

  Sep almost choked. ‘Really, sir? Why are you asking us? We’ve never taken girls anywhere.’

  Lucas smothered a smile and gave Sep a nudge. ‘Who’s the lucky lady, Mr Lipp?’

  ‘That you don’t need to know.’ The teacher stalked ahead of them.

  ‘Seriously, who do you think is about to fall victim to Hairy’s charms?’ Sep asked.

  ‘Oh, that’s easy. It’s Miss Reedy for sure. Have you seen the way he looks at her?’

  ‘Poor Miss Reedy. I wonder if someone should warn her,’ Sep said.

  Lucas shook his head. ‘Not me. And you shouldn’t say anything either. She might like him, you know. I mean, apart from his outrageous clothes, he’s pretty talented and he can be funny too.’

  ‘Yeah, especially when he’s wearing that orange leisure suit. He’s hilarious,’ Sep agreed.

  Lucas pushed against Sep’s shoulder. ‘You know what I mean.’

  ‘Yeah, I’m just kidding. Mr Lipp’s a good guy.’

  The children arrived back at their hotel to find Jacinta in a much improved state of mind. She told Alice-Miranda and Millie that her mother had been to visit but, as promised, she kept the details of Ambrosia’s mysterious new job to herself.

  As they tucked into the pizzas Monsieur Crabbe had ordered for their dinner, the children told Jacinta all about the service and the odd-looking attendees.

  ‘And Sloane was amazing,’ Millie said and smiled at Jacinta, who’d been allowed back downstairs for dinner. She didn’t tell Miss Grimm she’d already had a very delicious croque monsieur earlier.

  ‘Yeah, I was awesome,’ Sloane agreed.

  ‘Really?’ Jacinta asked sulkily. To add insult to her throbbing injury she couldn’t believe she’d lost her only solo part in the performance as well as her chance to compete in the upcoming gymnastics championships too.

  ‘She did sing beautifully,’ Alice-Miranda confirmed. ‘But I’m sure she would rather that you’d been there.’

  ‘Not really,’ Sloane said.

  ‘Sloane!’ Millie berated. ‘Did you hear what you just said? Seriously, you weren’t glad that Jacinta hurt herself, were you?’

  ‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ said Sloane. She’d realised she was fast painting herself into a corner. ‘I just meant that it was fun and I really loved it. And I would never have got the chance. Don’t be mad . . .’

  ‘I’m not mad, Sloane,’ Jacinta said. ‘But you’d better have been awesome.’

  ‘I was okay,’ Sloane replied. ‘Not as good as you, though – was I, Alice-Miranda?’

  ‘You were great, Sloane. And Jacinta would have been great if she’d been there,’ Alice-Miranda agreed.

  ‘Are you two all right?’ Millie looked at the girls, who were munching on their pizza slices.

  Jacinta and Sloane looked up.

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Well, usually you’d be fighting by now,’ Millie explained.

  ‘I don’t fight with people who have broken toes,’ Sloane said, deadpan. ‘It wouldn’t be fair.’

  Alice-Miranda giggled. Millie did too. Jacinta and Sloane just stared at each other.

  ‘What? Can’t we be grown-up sometimes?’ Jacinta nudged Sloane who nudged her right back.

  ‘You can be grown-up all the time, if it means you stop fighting,’ Millie agreed.

  After the chatter had eased, Miss Grimm and Professor Winterbottom outlined the schedule for the following day.

  The LaBelle show would start at 11 am but they would need to leave the hotel by nine to walk to the Place Vendôme and have some morning tea before the performance. Mr Lipp and Mr Trout were hoping for another quick rehearsal too, now that all of the seating and decorations would be in place.

  ‘The adults are going to have a short break for some tea and coffee,’ the professor said. ‘You can either stay down here and chat or go out to the courtyard. We are fortunate to have the whole place to ourselves and I think you can be trusted to do the right thing for half an hour or so.’ The professor glared at Figgy and Rufus as he made the last remark.

  Sloane looked around at her friends. ‘What do you want to do?’

  ‘Let’s go to the courtyard,’ Lucas suggested. ‘Do you feel like some fresh air, Jacinta?’

  The girl nodded and Lucas helped her outside, where Monsieur Crabbe was watering the geraniums and Lulu was lazing on the path.

  ‘Bonjour,’ the man greeted the children. ‘Madame Crabbe tells me your performance was spectacular.’

  Sep grinned and said, ‘It was fun.’

  Jacinta and Lucas sat down on one of the benches closest to the street, while Alice-Miranda and Millie leaned down to give Lulu a scratch. Sep was standing nearby and Sloane was admiring her fingernails and feeling very clever for finding a pale shade of pink nail polish that the headmistress had not yet spotted.

  ‘Monsieur Crabbe, do you know the family that lives across the road in the townhouse with the black door?’ Sep asked.

  The man rubbed his chin. ‘I have seen a man come and go many times. He is small and pointy and wears a beret.’

  ‘Have you ever seen a woman there?’

  ‘A woman? No,’ he replied.

  ‘Have you ever seen a boy there?’ Sep asked. ‘He looks a bit older than us, probably fourteen or fifteen.’

  Monsieur Crabbe shook his head. ‘No, never. But there are a lot of vans coming in the day and night, especially this week.’

  Sep frowned and went to the gates. Alice-Miranda followed him. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked.

  ‘I went to find Fabien when we got back this afternoon but the woman answered and when I asked for him she just shook her head. But I saw him myself! He was inside, but he made it clear that he didn’t want me to tell her anything more.’

  ‘That does sound strange,’ said Alice-Miranda. She peered up at the windows, looking for signs of life.

  ‘Yeah, I suppose sometimes families are weird,’ Sep said. ‘Just look at mine.’ He began to fish around in his pocket.

  ‘What are you looking for?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

  ‘This.’ He handed her the button he’d found on the step outside the house with the black door.

  Alice-Miranda studied it. ‘I think it’s a G and an F together,’ she said. ‘It’s very pretty. There’s an amazing Italian designer called Giovanni Fernando. Perhaps it’s from one of his designs?’ She went to hand it back to Sep.

  ‘No, you can keep it,’ he said. ‘I don’t have much use for designer buttons.’

  They went back to gazing across the street.

  Alice-Miranda wondered what was going on with Fabien. It was all so very odd.

  Charlotte scrolled through her emails before finding the one she had been looking for.

  ‘Rosie Hunter has done it again,’ she called to Cecelia a few minutes later.

  ‘What has s
he written about this time?’ her sister called back from her bedroom, where she was getting dressed.

  ‘One of the smaller shows. It’s a great piece. I just wish I could meet her.’

  ‘She must be coming to the LaBelle show today. Surely. It’s the hottest ticket in town.’

  ‘I hope so. It was really kind of you to get tickets for Morrie, by the way,’ Charlotte said as Cecelia walked into the sitting room.

  ‘Yes, but I’ve had stern words with him about Dux being our exclusive in New York, at least until the collection is larger,’ Cecelia explained.

  Charlotte’s brow furrowed. ‘And you think Morrie Finkelstein will abide by that?’

  ‘Oh, yes. Gerda was there when we talked and she is determined to keep him on the straight and narrow. And besides, Morrie still has several of our former accounts who I encouraged to stay with him – even after they learned what he’d been up to.’ Cecelia tightened the clasp on her watch. ‘Now, breakfast before we head to the show?’

  ‘Oh yes, I’m starving.’ Charlotte rubbed her belly. ‘I can’t believe how much these little guys want me to eat. You know I said that my pants were just a bit tight. When I went to put them on this morning I couldn’t get the zip up. I think I’m going to be a whale by the time they’re due.’

  ‘You’ll be the most beautiful whale in the world,’ Cecelia reassured her. ‘Come on, let’s go and see how much of the buffet you can get through.’

  Adele sat at her desk, glancing up at the clock every few seconds. Monsieur Fontaine would be leaving soon and then she would have her chance. The man had called again and asked her to deliver the sketches in a large envelope to a hotel on the other side of the city. The name he gave was Monsieur Fontaine – he would collect it from there. She couldn’t believe the cheek of him, impersonating the very man he was stealing from.

  It seemed that there was no other way. He promised that once she delivered the sketches, the vicuna would be returned but of course there was no guarantee. If she went to the police, he said, he would make her disappear, and Christian too. He could have been lying but it was not a chance she was prepared to take.