During the final week of February in 1808, Clement Metcalfe has a brief and heated encounter in the back room of a busy London coffee house with bashful gentleman Humphrey Atkinson. Clem, a private secretary, is accustomed to grabbing random interludes to brighten his tedious and underpaid working days following a professional fall from grace. But Humphrey seems to hanker after more than one taste.
So Clem introduces Humphrey to Abe Pengelly, the other semi-regular man in his life. Imposingly dark and dangerous, Abe is an enigmatic figure, with his operations based at the decaying and infamous Old Red Lion Tavern. His endeavours, if not blatantly lawless and criminal, are definitely murky.
There's an undeniable attraction between the three men that promises passion. However, Clem discovers his lovers are also willing to exert themselves on his behalf to right past wrongs. Might this be a case where three is not a crowd but the perfect number?