Chapter 22: XX

XX She Stoops to Conquer “But, fairest Hypatia, conceive yourself struck in the face by a great stone, several hundred howling wretches leaping up at you like wild beasts—two minutes more, and you are torn limb from limb. What would even you do in such a case?” “Let them tear me limb from limb, and die as I have lived.” “Ah, but—When it came to fact, and death was staring you in the face?” “And why should man fear death?” “Ahem! No, not death, of course; but the act of dying…