How do you say if someone loved you but you didn't know that in the past

Question

Consider you graduated from college many years ago and you run into a friend from college and she says that Alice loved you when we were students at college. Alice was your classmate, and we can also assume she is not interested in you anymore.

So how do you describe that you did not realize/did not know, up until now, somebody liked you in the past when your talking about it with another friend.

My guess:

When we were classmates, Alice would have to have loved me.

But I am not sure.

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Second scenario could be:

Your mom says when you were an infant you always wanted to play with the cat at home. Of course you don't remember this.

How do you describe this situation to somebody else.

Could it be

When I was an infant, I would have love to have played with the cat.

Answer 1

For your first sentence, the usage of have to have seems incorrect. A correct alternative includes (but is not limited to) the following:

When we were classmates, Alice had feelings for me.

When we were classmates, Alice had a crush on me.

Alice used to love me, back when we were classmates.

For your second case, again, the use of have loved to have seems incorrect. The correct alternatives includes (but is not limited to) the following:

When I was a child, I used to love playing with the cat.

As an infant, I used to love playing with the cat.

My mom tells me that when I was little, I used to love playing with the cat.

Answer 2

There are many ways to say it. Here are some if the most clear and direct:

I never knew [it] until a friend recently told me, but Alice was in love with me [when we were] in college.

Alice was in love with me in college, unbeknownst to me at the time.

We cannot use would have to have loved to communicate this meaning. There are two meanings that we express with would have to have [past participle]. The first is to convey a complaint that carries also a sense of irony:

It was the only time in my life that I decided to run through a red traffic light. Of course, there would have to have been a police officer watching at that very moment!

The second meaning is to show that we are forming a conclusion.

Well, I was in high school when Star Wars was released. So it would have to have come out at least 30 years ago.

Answer 3

I think you'd say it simply

When we were classmates, Alice loved me.

Or

When we were classmates, Alice was in love with me.

If you did love her back then you'd say,

When we were classmates, Alice loved me. I wish I had known. I loved her too.

If you would have reciprocated if she had revealed her love for you, you'd say

When we were classmates, Alice loved me. I wish I had known. I would/could have loved her too.

In American English, we'd say 'liked' for an early stage attraction. So you might say—

When we were classmates, Alice liked me. I wish I had known. I liked her too. I could have loved her.

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For your second sentence, if I understand it correctly, I think your sentence is right - you'd say

When I was an infant, I would have loved to play (or - have played) with the cat.

Or

When I was an infant, I always wanted to play with the cat.