Bessie Rayner Parkes to Barbara Leigh Smith, 12 February 1853
Title
Bessie Rayner Parkes to Barbara Leigh Smith, 12 February 1853
Title
Bessie Rayner Parkes to Barbara Leigh Smith, 12 February 1853
Sender
Bessie Rayner Parkes
Recipient
Barbara Leigh Smith
Date(s)
- 1853-02-12
Place
London
Letter Content
Bessie Rayner Parkes to Barbara Leigh Smith, ,12 February 1853
Text: Times Literary Supplement, 20 November 1948, p. 653.
Do you know, Marian Evans has changed to me lately, has seemed to have finally made up her mind to love me. It took her some time to consider those wretched poison drops of evil speaking, and I saw it, and shrunk from it just as you can fancy, but I have learnt my lesson of patience somewhat bitterly, and held my tongue, and let her consider at leisure, and she has thrown them to the winds. She said the other day, having made me sit close to her, and looking full into my eyes: "I thought when I first knew you, you had a great deal of selfesteem in the sense of putting forth your own opinions, but I have quite lost the impression. I suppose when we love people, we lose the sense of their faults." I was inexpressibly touched. I nearly cried. The odd mixture of truth and fondness in Marian is so great. She never spares, but expresses every opinion, good and bad, with the most unflinching plainness, and yet she seems able to see faults without losing tenderness.
Text: Times Literary Supplement, 20 November 1948, p. 653.
Do you know, Marian Evans has changed to me lately, has seemed to have finally made up her mind to love me. It took her some time to consider those wretched poison drops of evil speaking, and I saw it, and shrunk from it just as you can fancy, but I have learnt my lesson of patience somewhat bitterly, and held my tongue, and let her consider at leisure, and she has thrown them to the winds. She said the other day, having made me sit close to her, and looking full into my eyes: "I thought when I first knew you, you had a great deal of selfesteem in the sense of putting forth your own opinions, but I have quite lost the impression. I suppose when we love people, we lose the sense of their faults." I was inexpressibly touched. I nearly cried. The odd mixture of truth and fondness in Marian is so great. She never spares, but expresses every opinion, good and bad, with the most unflinching plainness, and yet she seems able to see faults without losing tenderness.
Citation
Bessie Rayner Parkes, Bessie Rayner Parkes to Barbara Leigh Smith, 12 February 1853, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/91725