In Chapter 10 of "The Scarlet Letter", Chillingworth already suspects Dimmesdale of being the father of Pearl and he is digging, trying to find out if he can coax the truth from the minister. Dimmesdale seems to be hiding something because he his the father of Pearl and does not want to admit it to anyone. In a conversation about hidden sin that is filled with innuendo and double meaning, Chillingworth taunts Dimmesdale . The minister says,"that the hearts holding such miserable secrets as you speak of will yield them up, at that last day, not with reluctance, but with a joy unutterable.” Chillingworth then asks "“Then why not reveal then here?” This makes Dimmesdale very uncomfortable and he clutches his chest and answers, "So, to their own unutterable torment, they go about among their fellow-creatures, looking pure as new-fallen snow; while their hearts are all speckled and spotted with iniquity of which they cannot rid themselves.” Chillingworth is quick to observe, "such men deceive themselves!” Dimmesdale quickly changes the subject to the state of his own health. "He{Dimmesdale] had a ready faculty, indeed, of escaping from any topic that agitated his too sensitive and nervous temperament.—”But, now, I would ask of my well-skilled physician, whether, in good sooth, he deems me to have profited by his kindly care of this weak frame of mine?” Then they are interrupted by the sound of Pearl's laughter.
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