The Perfect Number

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.