#what’s particularly striking about this remark is the fact Linton was a furious rival of Eliot’s; jealous but also slyly fascinated …

[thequietabsolute]

… she had the devotion of a man whose love had in it that element of adoration and self-suppression which is dearest of all to a woman like George Eliot, at once jealous and dependent, demanding exclusive devotion and needing incessant care — but ready to give all she had in return.

— Eliza Linton, regarding George Henry Lewes, George Eliot’s husband.