even if she once deluded herself into believing that she was happy with him. Pearl, meanwhile, has been playing with birch-bark, pools of water, and jellyfish. Deciding to make herself a mermaid, she puts eelgrass on her chest in the shape of an "A - but freshly green, instead of scarlet." Hester and Pearl then have a conversation on what the "A" means. Despite Hester's explanations, Pearl is not satisfied. Intent on telling Dimmesdale the truth, Hester goes to meet the minister in the woods. Going with her, Pearl romps in the sunshine on the way there. As they wait for Dimmesdale by a brook, Pearl asks Hester to tell her about the Black Man and his connection to the scarlet letter because Mistress Hibbins told her that Hester meets the Black Man in the woods at night. When Dimmesdale approaches, Pearl asks whether the approaching person is the Black Man. Hoping for some privacy, Hester urges Pearl to play in the woods but her daughter fears that the person in the distance is the Black Man. Hester, somewhat exasperated and fed up with her daughter's fatuous behavior, exclaims, "It is the minister!" before Pearl scurries off.Chapter 17: The Pastor and His Parishioner Chapter 18: A Flood of Sunshine Summary In the forest, Hester and Dimmesdale finally meet outside of the public eye and that of Chillingworth. Hester, who cannot help noticing how his spirit is broken, confesses to Dimmesdale that Chillingworth was her husband that she had known this for seven years. This news causes a "dark transfiguration" in Dimmesdale and Dimmesdale blames her for his suffering. Hester, unable to bear a frown from Dimmesdale though she had endured everyone else's and God's frown, pulls him to her chest. (His face is buried in the scarlet letter.) She worries only about Dimmesdale's forgiveness. Though he does eventually say that he forgives her, he confesses that he feels powerless against Chillingworth and the inner gnawing of guilt. Hester sugg...
