He had won the long game and success had turned to ashes in his mouth.

[W]e assembled at one o'clock, at two sat down to dinner, consisting of capital stewed grigs, a dish Mrs Burt was famous for dressing, a large joint of roast or boiled meat, with proper vegetables and a good-sized pudding or pie […] .

Lace had at the back of his mind a desire to go combo. He had had it ever since he came in contact with the comely lubras of the district. But at first it had been kept in check by what he called his Sense of Decency. Not that he was a prude. Apparently he was only colour-proud.

'slightly' feels unnecessary, and breaks the feel of 'tense and quivering'. You can post-adverbify if you like, but I'd still choose a different adverb to go after 'quivering', I think.