"I will stay."
"You have already taught me much; with the skill that you have imparted and the stores that you have brought, which I will pay for, we should be much better off than if you had not come. We should still feel only gratitude to you."
"I have no thought of leaving."
"Remember, you think now that you have come that it is only a handful of people that you can benefit, and they will not comprehend the sacrifice that you have made, or be very grateful."
"Yes, I think that," replied Caius, admitting her insight. "At the same time, I will remain."
She sighed, and her sigh was explained by her next words:
"Yet you do not remain for love of the work or the people."
Caius felt that his steady assertion that he would remain had perhaps appeared to vaunt a heroism that was not true. He supposed that she had seen his selfishness of motive, and that it was her time now to let him see that she had not much admiration for him, so that he might make his choice without bias.
"It is true that I do not love the people, but I will pass the winter here."
If the lady had had the hard thought of him that he attributed to her, there was no further sign of it, for she thanked him now with a gratitude so great that silent tears trembled in her eyes.