Miss Pendleton (Update to C.222 END) - Chapter 149

While Ian was engrossed in kissing the feet of his guardian angel, a knock came at the bedroom door. A servant’s voice called from outside.

“Master, your bath is ready.”

Though irritated at the interruption of his time with his wife, Ian could not rebuke the servant. Preparing a bath immediately upon the master’s return was an unbreakable rule in this household.

He carefully tucked the blanket over Laura’s body and went to bathe.

As always, the bathroom held a large tub filled with warm water. He slowly undressed, revealing chiseled muscles as his clothes fell away. In his teens, he had rowed daily with the crew team, and even after graduation, he never neglected exercise, keeping his body taut with muscle.

He settled into the tub, washing his face and wetting his hair. His jet-black hair, usually neatly combed back, fell over his forehead, making him look three years younger.

As Ian scrubbed his body with a soapy brush, male servants moved in and out of the bathroom, draining and refilling the tub with fresh water.

After washing for a while, he felt satisfyingly clean. He instructed a servant to bring a cigar and an ashtray.

Smoking while soaking in warm water was one of his favorite pastimes. Leaning back in the tub, he dried his hands, lit a cigar, and inhaled lightly.

The cigar smoke lingering in his mouth lifted his spirits. With half-closed eyes, he recalled the past four days of his London trip.

The purpose of the trip was to attend his friend William’s wedding. The grandest moment was the ceremony itself, and the warmest was bidding farewell to the newlyweds as they departed for their honeymoon.

Yet, in Ian’s mental album, only moments with Laura filled the pages. Sitting across from her on the train, sipping coffee. Napping in each other’s arms at the hotel. Choosing gifts together at Harrods.

And then.

“I love you. I love you with all my heart.”

At that moment, sitting in the tub, Ian dropped his cigar. Fortunately, he had extended his hand outward, avoiding dropping it into the water, but the lit end fell onto the wet floor, ruining it.

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