He'd be unlikely to say so, at least in so many words, but books and writing and anything like that aside, he thinks Demelza is one of the smartest people he knows. She's got a good head on her shoulders, and a lot more sense than he's seen in people with far more education, and those are the things that really count. The fact that she's made such an effort to learn more says a lot, too. He's barely managed to find his footing here, lucky that at least this isn't a setting too unfamiliar. She seems to be learning all she can, a massive undertaking.

"I think there's always a lot more to learn," he says, shrugging, about as close to philosophical as he's likely to get. "No matter how much anyone already knows. Doesn't mean you haven't already learned a lot, too."