thou?" He fixed his eyes upon her and added, "Hester, hast thou found
peace?"

"Hast thou?" she asked.

"None! Nothing but despair! What else could I look for, being what I am,
and leading such a life as mine?"

"You wrong yourself in this," said Hester gently. "Your sin is left
behind you, in the days long past. But Arthur, an enemy dwellest with
thee, under the same roof. That old man--the physician, whom they call
Roger Chillingworth--he was my husband! Forgive me. Let God punish!"

"I do forgive you, Hester," replied the minister. "May God forgive us
both!"

They sat down, hand clasped in hand, on the mossy trunk of a fallen
tree.

It was Hester who bade him hope, and spoke of seeking a new life beyond
the seas, in some rural village in Europe.

"Oh, Hester," cried Arthur Dimmesdale, "I lack the strength and courage
to venture out into the wide, strange world alone."

"Thou shalt not go alone!" she whispered. Before Mr. Dimmesdale reached
home he was conscious of a change of thought and feeling; Roger
Chillingworth observed the change, and knew that now in the minister's
regard he was no longer a trusted friend, but his bitterest enemy.