GENRE: Gay Interracial Historical Romance (MMM)
LENGTH: 4,358 words
RATING:

These three short stories are bonus chapters for Ellie Thomas’ An Unlikely Alliance trilogy. The Regency-era stories are from the point of view of each of the three men in the throuple, Humphrey, Abe, and Clem.

In “The Spare Man,” modest gentleman Humphrey Atkinson reflects on recent events and the tumultuous effect Abe and Clem have had on his previously quiet life.

Former hard man Abe Pengelly is in the spotlight for “Privilege and Preferment,” firstly in trouble with his mother after a drunken night out and then getting the better of an arrogant young sprig at the military headquarters of Horse Guards, which is Abe’s new and respectable workplace.

Finally, Clem Metcalfe, secretary-turned-MA-student, has his turn in “Journey’s End,” where he agonizes over whether a term spent in Oxford, away from his lovers in London, has weakened their romantic bond.

EXCERPT FROM "Privilege and Preferment"

It was nearly lunchtime before Abe emerged from his bedroom, still feeling slightly the worse for wear. Humphrey had also arisen, and after a subdued farewell, hurried home to assure his Aunt Cece that he wasn’t lying dead in a ditch.

Abe recalled Humphrey’s unusual pallor. He looks how I feel..

When Abe shook Clem’s shoulder in a half-hearted attempt to waken him, Clem moaned piteously and buried his face in the pillows.

I’ll leave him to sleep it off, Abe decided before heading downstairs with a sense of trepidation.

There was an occasion in his extreme youth when he and the kitchen girl had got foxed on a stash of gin secreted by one of his mum’s fellow incumbents at the Covent Garden seraglio where Abe had grown up. His mother’s fury was unprecedented. He had never since reeled home in a state of inebriation.

During his years hovering on the brink of outright criminality, Abe was far too leery of the company he kept in the environs of the Old Red Lion to let down his guard. It was a measure of his trust in Clem and Humphrey that he had allowed himself to become a trifle mellow the night before.

Although Mum might not appreciate that sentiment, he thought glumly as he reached the ground floor.

Abe was less concerned about his mother’s disapproval than her disappointment in him. From his earliest childhood, they had always been close, the two of them against the world. The idea of disillusioning his most constant supporter made Abe’s head ache worse than the mild megrim induced by last night’s overindulgence.

He found Lucy in the kitchen, moving the luncheon pots and pans around with unnecessary force. Their maid took one look at Abe and scuttled off towards the scullery.

I’m for it, then.

Abe took a seat at the kitchen table and waited for his mum to deign to notice him. Eventually, Lucy turned to face him, her generous mouth set in a grim unsmiling line.

“I suppose you’re in need of a pot of coffee?”

“I don’t want to put you to any bother, Mum. I can make it myself.”

Lucy huffed, ignoring Abe’s offer. She reached for the kettle and slammed it down on the stove.

Abe winced.

It wasn’t going to be easy to get back in her good graces. Due to a natural sense of self-preservation, he kept silent until Lucy set a mug of coffee in front of him.

“Thank you.”

Lucy stood over him with her arms folded.

“What do you have to say for yourself then, Absolom?”

“I’m sorry, Mum. It won’t happen again.”

“It’s one thing you for you to get into such a sorry state, and I’m surprised at Humphrey, too, but luring that poor lamb into drunken insensibility? I have to say, I’m thoroughly ashamed of you.”

Abe was within his rights to point out that Lucy’s poor lamb was more than accustomed a surfeit of drink. Clem’s capacity for gin or beer was apparently limitless.

Hollow legs, that one.

It was the Champagne that did for Clem, a beverage with which he was generally unaccustomed. However, Abe didn’t dare mention his theory aloud.

“Sorry, Mum,” he repeated, in the hope that if he apologised enough, she might start to believe him. “Clem’s still sleeping it off. And we made sure he drank a glass of water last night before going to bed.”

Lucy didn’t reply.

But she topped up his mug, an indication that her rancour was softening. Abe felt much more awake and alert after a few gulps of coffee with a sharper recall of the night’s events.

“Apart from giving Farquarson a good clouting,” he said. “We had another reason for celebration. I spoke to Mr. Travers before we left the theatre. He told me I would have a new position at Horse Guards, starting on Monday.”

“A promotion?” Lucy’s eyes grew wide.

“So he said.”

Lucy forgot her annoyance and sat next to Abe at the table.

“Why, Absolom, that’s wonderful news, and most unexpected. You’ve only been there a matter of weeks.”

“I don’t think I’ll be running the place yet, Mum.”

He vaguely remembered passing on his good tidings to his lovers which had caused Humphrey to order a fourth bottle of Champagne.

Things were slightly hazy after that.