Mary Ann Evans, better known under the pseudonym George Eliot (1819-1880), was a major Victorian novelist and poet. As her popularity grew, so did her admirers. 

Two in particular - Alexander Main and Edith Simcox - started to cross the line as far as “passionate devotion.” 

One sent numerous gushy letters. Another recorded her unreciprocated love for the novelist in a secret journal. Both made George Eliot pretty uncomfortable.
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