"Hester, I have come by to bless you and to...," Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale's voice trailed off. However, it rose again to a barely audible whisper, "I can no longer live with this tremendous burden that weighs upon my heart as I watch you become a public disgrace at my expense. The guard believes I have visited you strictly for the purpose to give you God's grace and to convince you to release the identity of the father of your child." At the sound of his last words his forehead drew back and his hands clenched into fists.
"Reverend, today and among other days I have been viewed as a d…
