Wounds of the heart are the hardest to heal. Solicitor’s clerk George Johnson has a secret goal when he moves into a London boarding house in the winter of 1920: to find out if his fellow lodger, Matthew Connaught, was the wartime traitor who cost George’s adored older brother Hugh his life. Yet the more he gets to know his quarry, the more George loses sight of his mission -- and his heart. Blessed with boyish good looks and charm in abundance, ad man Matthew is irrepressibly cheerful despite having lost an arm in the Great War -- and soon makes plain his attraction to George. As George’s feelings for Matthew grow, so does his desperation to know the truth about what happened that day in Ypres. Even if bringing all their secrets to light means he’ll lose the man he’s come to love.

To Love a Traitor

George shot the man a glance. Matthew’s tone had been rueful, but there was no sign of bitterness in his face. “Don’t you mind?” he asked, and could have kicked himself. “Sorry. That was awfully personal.”


Matthew’s face broke into one of those winning smiles that were a grave danger to George’s resolve to stay impartial, at least until he knew more. “Well, I won’t deny it can be a bit of a bore—but really, I got off awfully lightly. There are lots of fellows far worse off than I am, and that’s without counting the ones that aren’t here at all, like your poor brother. Ah—here we are.”


Chapter 17