I do not recall that I felt any tenderness of conscience in reference to Mrs. Joe, when the fear of being found out was lifted off me. But I loved Joe, – perhaps for no better reason in those early days than because the dear fellow let me love him, – and, as to him, my inner self was not so easily composed.
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 6. Pip recalls how as a boy he loved Joe as being the one person who really cared for him. But he confesses to having no such tender feelings for his mean and cruel sister.