Page:Heroines of freethought (IA cu31924031228699).pdf/322

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314
GEORGE ELIOT.

peculiarly situated: He was a married man, although for long years he had not lived with his wife. His wife was living with another man, for the marriage had been an uncongenial one, and the first Mrs. Lewes had proved false to her marriage vows; "but,” says a writer in the Golden Age, “Mr. Lewes himself was equally guilty of infidelity to his wife, and the law of England does this equal justice to man and woman, viz., it absolves neither from a marriage bond, on account of the infidelity of the other, unless the one who asks freedom can claim to have been faithful to his or her own vow. The marriage tie between this disloyal husband and wife was broken in fact, but not in law. They had long lived separate lives, when Mr. Lewes met and loved Miss Evans. It was her mind and heart which first won Mr. Lewes’ love, and the nobility of this most pure spirit lifted that love into a reverence he had never before felt for woman. His love was returned, and the ques-