The Secret in East End [Agents of the Crown #1]

Chapter 1 - Picture of Fabian

Blond hair streaked with brown, green eyes the color of the fresh leaves in summer, Fabian Rothesay cut a swathing figure on any London dance floor he chose to grace. And the very fact that his presence was akin to the sighting of a rare animal made his arrival on the steps of Crawford Manor even more exciting. The marriage minded mama's flew into a frenzy as they tried to find their charges. Dresses were adjusted, hairs were combed, and there was a sudden mad rush for the restroom. All of which did not go unnoticed by Fabian, even if he wasn't too happy with it.

It showed in his face too, the scrunch of his brows and the way he went straight for the gaming room after he was announced. Fabian had no time for these fripperies.

"Are the cards the only reason you graced us with your presence, Rothesay?" the Earl of Drumberry, Lord Forsthe teased Fabian as the twenty-nine year old Duke settled into the plush armchair. He smiled at his friend, an easy-going one before he replied. "Perhaps? I finally found some time away from the ledgers. Surely a man can celebrate with a glass or two?" 

A round of laughter echoed as their games resumed. Port was poured, wine glasses passed as conversation picked up again. Fabian however, knew better then to let himself relax. Eight years as an agent of the Crown was not something that could let you relax in any circumstances, especially since he wasn't here for the party, the drinks, nor the cards. Let his peers believed what they wanted. It was why he operated so well as an Agent afterall. He could go into places which would've been otherwise suspicious for a general or a member of the police force to mingle. His status, firstly as the heir of a Duke and then subsequently as the Duke himself, gave him an added advantage his fellow Agents could not contend with.

While they had expected him to step out once he became the Duke of Avondale, Fabian had merely asked for a year's break to get his father's coffers settled. Once the lands were running smoothly, and his father's investments sorted out, Fabian had dived right into the thick of things. This need to serve the Crown had also been partially the reason why he had wanted marriage with his sister's best friend. Evelyn Verrick's sizeable dowry would've saved him from even having to take any break at all from the service. But her then-suitor and current husband would've probably taken his eye out. Knowing Connor Gilroy, he was very likely to.

Distracted, the young Duke chuckled at the memory of the couple who had now became a friend. They corresponded occasionally, but there was no chance of him seeing them right now, since from their last letter a couple of months ago, Evie had just gotten herself with child, and Connor was unlikely to let her leave the Highlands until everything was back to normal.

But he had a very different purpose for lingering in the cards room of the ball. If it wasn't for this reason, Fabian would never imagine braving a dance floor filled with simpering misses and their need to get hitched, and soon. Marriage was never something he dallied with. Oh, he's thought of it sure. His parents had a wonderful marriage, and he was sure that while his mother still mourned her husband, she knew how to carry on with her life. But at nine and twenty, he considered himself still too young to be shackled.

Oh no, Fabian Rothesay was here for a very different item indeed.

His hearing was his greatest asset. As the eldest son of a Duke, his father had been a busy man, almost too busy for his son, had Fabian not been such a busybody. His game of trying to gain his father's attention eventually developed to him being extremely good at hide and seek, and then became a skill that had gotten him noticed during a regular visit by the House of Lords in Eton. He had been training since the age of eighteen, and had never looked back since. Having always been horrified at the indulgent life of the upper class society, this gave him something to do, instead of sitting back and growing sideways like too many of his peers.