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"
The
magistrates
are
God-fearing
gentlemen
,
but
merciful
overmuch
--
that
is
a
truth
,
"
added
a
third
autumnal
matron
.
"
At
the
very
least
,
they
should
have
put
the
brand
of
a
hot
iron
on
Hester
Prynne
's
forehead
.
Madame
Hester
would
have
winced
at
that
,
I
warrant
me
.
But
she
--
the
naughty
baggage
--
little
will
she
care
what
they
put
upon
the
bodice
of
her
gown
Why
,
look
you
,
she
may
cover
it
with
a
brooch
,
or
such
like
.
heathenish
adornment
,
and
so
walk
the
streets
as
brave
as
ever
"
"
Ah
,
but
,
"
interposed
,
more
softly
,
a
young
wife
,
holding
a
child
by
the
hand
,
"
let
her
cover
the
mark
as
she
will
,
the
pang
of
it
will
be
always
in
her
heart
.
"
"
What
do
we
talk
of
marks
and
brands
,
whether
on
the
bodice
of
her
gown
or
the
flesh
of
her
forehead
?
"
cried
another
female
,
the
ugliest
as
well
as
the
most
pitiless
of
these
self-constituted
judges
.
"
This
woman
has
brought
shame
upon
us
all
,
and
ought
to
die
;
Is
there
not
law
for
it
?
Truly
there
is
,
both
in
the
Scripture
and
the
statute-book
.
Then
let
the
magistrates
,
who
have
made
it
of
no
effect
,
thank
themselves
if
their
own
wives
and
daughters
go
astray
"
"
Mercy
on
us
,
goodwife
"
exclaimed
a
man
in
the
crowd
,
"
is
there
no
virtue
in
woman
,
save
what
springs
from
a
wholesome
fear
of
the
gallows
?
That
is
the
hardest
word
yet
!
Hush
now
,
gossips
for
the
lock
is
turning
in
the
prison-door
,
and
here
comes
Mistress
Prynne
herself
.
"
The
door
of
the
jail
being
flung
open
from
within
there
appeared
,
in
the
first
place
,
like
a
black
shadow
emerging
into
sunshine
,
the
grim
and
gristly
presence
of
the
town-beadle
,
with
a
sword
by
his
side
,
and
his
staff
of
office
in
his
hand
.
This
personage
prefigured
and
represented
in
his
aspect
the
whole
dismal
severity
of
the
Puritanic
code
of
law
,
which
it
was
his
business
to
administer
in
its
final
and
closest
application
to
the
offender
.
Stretching
forth
the
official
staff
in
his
left
hand
,
he
laid
his
right
upon
the
shoulder
of
a
young
woman
,
whom
he
thus
drew
forward
,
until
,
on
the
threshold
of
the
prison-door
,
she
repelled
him
,
by
an
action
marked
with
natural
dignity
and
force
of
character
,
and
stepped
into
the
open
air
as
if
by
her
own
free
will
.
She
bore
in
her
arms
a
child
,
a
baby
of
some
three
months
old
,
who
winked
and
turned
aside
its
little
face
from
the
too
vivid
light
of
day
;
because
its
existence
,
heretofore
,
had
brought
it
acquaintance
only
with
the
grey
twilight
of
a
dungeon
,
or
other
darksome
apartment
of
the
prison
.
When
the
young
woman
--
the
mother
of
this
child
--
stood
fully
revealed
before
the
crowd
,
it
seemed
to
be
her
first
impulse
to
clasp
the
infant
closely
to
her
bosom
;
not
so
much
by
an
impulse
of
motherly
affection
,
as
that
she
might
thereby
conceal
a
certain
token
,
which
was
wrought
or
fastened
into
her
dress
.
In
a
moment
,
however
,
wisely
judging
that
one
token
of
her
shame
would
but
poorly
serve
to
hide
another
,
she
took
the
baby
on
her
arm
,
and
with
a
burning
blush
,
and
yet
a
haughty
smile
,
and
a
glance
that
would
not
be
abashed
,
looked
around
at
her
townspeople
and
neighbours
.
On
the
breast
of
her
gown
,
in
fine
red
cloth
,
surrounded
with
an
elaborate
embroidery
and
fantastic
flourishes
of
gold
thread
,
appeared
the
letter
A.
It
was
so
artistically
done
,
and
with
so
much
fertility
and
gorgeous
luxuriance
of
fancy
,
that
it
had
all
the
effect
of
a
last
and
fitting
decoration
to
the
apparel
which
she
wore
,
and
which
was
of
a
splendour
in
accordance
with
the
taste
of
the
age
,
but
greatly
beyond
what
was
allowed
by
the
sumptuary
regulations
of
the
colony
.
The
young
woman
was
tall
,
with
a
figure
of
perfect
elegance
on
a
large
scale
.
She
had
dark
and
abundant
hair
,
so
glossy
that
it
threw
off
the
sunshine
with
a
gleam
;
and
a
face
which
,
besides
being
beautiful
from
regularity
of
feature
and
richness
of
complexion
,
had
the
impressiveness
belonging
to
a
marked
brow
and
deep
black
eyes
.
She
was
ladylike
,
too
,
after
the
manner
of
the
feminine
gentility
of
those
days
;
characterised
by
a
certain
state
and
dignity
,
rather
than
by
the
delicate
,
evanescent
,
and
indescribable
grace
which
is
now
recognised
as
its
indication
.
And
never
had
Hester
Prynne
appeared
more
ladylike
,
in
the
antique
interpretation
of
the
term
,
than
as
she
issued
from
the
prison
.
Those
who
had
before
known
her
,
and
had
expected
to
behold
her
dimmed
and
obscured
by
a
disastrous
cloud
,
were
astonished
,
and
even
startled
,
to
perceive
how
her
beauty
shone
out
,
and
made
a
halo
of
the
misfortune
and
ignominy
in
which
she
was
enveloped
.
It
may
be
true
that
,
to
a
sensitive
observer
,
there
was
some
thing
exquisitely
painful
in
it
.
