"There is an hour to come," said he, "when all of us shall castaside our veils. Take it not amiss, beloved friend, if I wear thispiece of crape till then.""Your words are a mystery, too," returned the young lady. "Takeaway the veil from them, at least.""Elizabeth, I will," said he, "so far as my vow may suffer me.
Know, then, this veil is a type and a symbol, and I am bound to wearit ever, both in light and darkness, in solitude and before the gazeof multitudes, and as with strangers, so with my familiar friends.
No mortal eye will see it withdrawn. This dismal shade must separateme from the world: even you, Elizabeth, can never come behind it!""What grievous affliction hath befallen you," she earnestlyinquired, "that you should thus darken your eyes forever?""If it be a sign of mourning," replied Mr. Hooper, "I, perhaps,like most other mortals, have sorrows dark enough to be typified bya black veil.""But what if the world will not believe that it is the type of aninnocent sorrow?" urged Elizabeth. "Beloved and respected as youare, there may be whispers that you hide your face under theconsciousness of secret sin. For the sake of your holy office, do awaythis scandal!"The color rose into her cheeks as she intimated the nature of therumors that were already abroad in the village. But Mr. Hooper'smildness did not forsake him. He even smiled again- that same sadsmile, which always appeared like a faint glimmering of light,proceeding from the obscurity beneath the veil.
"If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause enough," he merelyreplied; "and if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not dothe same?"And with this gentle, but unconquerable obstinacy did he resist allher entreaties. At length Elizabeth sat silent. For a few momentsshe appeared lost in thought, considering, probably, what newmethods might be tried to withdraw her lover from so dark a fantasy,which, if it had no other meaning, was perhaps a symptom of mentaldisease. Though of a firmer character than his own, the tears rolleddown her cheeks. But, in an instant, as it were, a new feeling tookthe place of sorrow: her eyes were fixed insensibly on the black veil,when, like a sudden twilight in the air, its terrors fell aroundher. She arose, and stood trembling before him.
"And do you feel it then, at last?" said he mournfully.
She made no reply, but covered her eyes with her hand, and turnedto leave the room. He rushed forward and caught her arm.
"Have patience with me, Elizabeth!" cried he, passionately. "Do notdesert me, though this veil must be between us here on earth. Be mine,and hereafter there shall be no veil over my face, no darkness betweenour souls! It is but a mortal veil- it is not for eternity! O! youknow not how lonely I am, and how frightened, to be alone behind myblack veil. Do not leave me in this miserable obscurity forever!""Lift the veil but once, and look me in the face," said she.
"Never! It cannot be!" replied Mr. Hooper.
"Then farewell!" said Elizabeth.
She withdrew her arm from his grasp, and slowly departed, pausingat the door, to give one long shuddering gaze, that seemed almost topenetrate the mystery of the black veil. But, even amid his grief, Mr.
Hooper smiled to think that only a material emblem had separated himfrom happiness, though the horrors, which it shadowed forth, must bedrawn darkly between the fondest of lovers.
From that time no attempts were made to remove Mr. Hooper's blackveil, or, by a direct appeal, to discover the secret which it wassupposed to hide. By persons who claimed a superiority to popularprejudice, it was reckoned merely an eccentric whim, such as oftenmingles with the sober actions of men otherwise rational, and tingesthem all with its own semblance of insanity. But with the multitude,good Mr. Hooper was irreparably a bugbear. He could not walk thestreet with any peace of mind, so conscious was he that the gentle andtimid would turn aside to avoid him, and that others would make it apoint of hardihood to throw themselves in his way. The impertinence ofthe latter class compelled him to give up his customary walk at sunsetto the burial ground; for when he leaned pensively over the gate,there would always be faces behind the gravestones, peeping at hisblack veil. A fable went the rounds that the stare of the deadpeople drove him thence. It grieved him, to the very depth of his kindheart, to observe how the children fled from his approach, breaking uptheir merriest sports, while his melancholy figure was yet afar off.
Their instinctive dread caused him to feel more strongly than aughtelse, that a preternatural horror was interwoven with the threads ofthe black crape. In truth, his own antipathy to the veil was knownto be so great, that he never willingly passed before a mirror, norstooped to drink at a still fountain, lest, in its peaceful bosom,he should be affrighted by himself. This was what gave plausibility tothe whispers, that Mr. Hooper's conscience tortured him for some greatcrime too horrible to be entirely concealed, or otherwise than soobscurely intimated. Thus, from beneath the black veil, there rolled acloud into the sunshine, an ambiguity of sin or sorrow, whichenveloped the poor minister, so that love or sympathy could neverreach him. It was said that ghost and fiend consorted with himthere. With self-shudderings and outward terrors, he walkedcontinually in its shadow, groping darkly within his own soul, orgazing through a medium that saddened the whole world. Even thelawless wind, it was believed, respected his dreadful secret, andnever blew aside the veil. But still good Mr. Hooper sadly smiled atthe pale visages of the worldly throng as he passed by.
Among all its bad influences, the black veil had the onedesirable effect, of making its wearer a very efficient clergyman.
