Spring in the New World was beautiful.

After a long and dreadful winter, there was nothing Hester looked forward to more. There was new life. There was hope again.

On the outskirts of Boston, within the verge of the peninsula, Hester walked past a small thatched cottage on her journey to the sea. She had learned that it had been built by an earlier settler, and abandoned, because the soil about it was too sterile for cultivation, while its remoteness was deemed undesirable. Hester wondered what it would be like to live alone off of her husband's land, and she was pleased with the scenery. Nature was beautiful once the flowers bloomed and the wildlife emerged from their hideaways.

She stood on the shore, looking across a basin of the sea at the forest-covered hills, towards the west. A clump of scrubby trees grew along her path. Everything was green again.

As soon as there was a warm day and winter had been cast off, Hester eagerly walked along the sea shore, left her shoes on the bank, and gathered oysters from the tide pools. The waters were cold but not intolerable. She stepped in mid-leg deep, dogged seaweed, and picked up some pleasant-looking seashells.

She took a deep breath in of the salty air and made her way back to the dry sand and shrub grass with her basket of bounty.

"Hester Prynne," a voice said, and she turned to see none other than her beloved standing feet from her, his footsteps masked by the waves crashing on the shore. Dimmesdale touched his heart. "I hath not seen ye in a long time outside of mine congregation, even then thee sit in the back or out of my view when I look for thee. Is it thou? Art thou in life?”

Hester smiled. "Oh! To see thee here warms me. It hath been a while. Nay, thy study hath become confined, and I cannot bring myself to return there. You are out in God's nature now, and only such an open wilderness could befit our reunion. The sunshine blesses us in pure light," she said.

His pale face turned towards her. "I had hoped to see thee alone again, as rare is a soul that ventures forth here, and I knew you oft did." He reached out his hand. "I have missed ye with every fibre of me. Wherefore hast thou been?"

"I am with child," she said.

He took a step back, anguish weakening his knees to which she caught him to steady him. She had not known when or how to tell him, but she felt good to let him in on the secret only she knew.

"In truth, I did not think I could, as I laid with my husband and it bore no fruitful offspring. Yet I did not love him like I do thee. Perhaps that is the difference," she said.

Stolen novel; please report.

"What can we do now? Oh! We forgot our God and His laws—when we violated our reverence to each other!" He buried his face betwixt his hands.

"We violated the town's laws, but not God's," said she. She touched her stomach. She wasn't showing yet, but she felt connected to the life inside. "We vowed our love for each other. Why He hath made it unclear the fate of mine husband so that we hide in the shadows and out in the wilderness instead of vowing in front of others I shan't know - it is God's will, His plan, and I will bear thy child that He bestowed upon me, and come what may of it."

"The child will be our eternal shame for what we did," he said. "For I could not wait to love thee within a true marriage, and for that I will repent for all my life for damning thee."

Hester said, "I shall not tell anyone, not a soul, that thou art my child's father. I swear it. I regret nothing. I shall look upon our child and see thee. Ye shall see the child in church teach them of our Heavenly Father's love and your own love will come through, even if the child does not know you as their earthly one."

"If thee hast a child, then I cannot marry thee. Thou wilt be a fallen woman," he said solemnly. "At least not if I do not confess my sin as well, as the child shall bear my features. I cannot gaze upon it without seeing us both and then turn my head and deny it. I must confess as well."

"Nay!" she objected. "What good wouldst it be for us both to be sinners and outcasts? Your sermons give faith and hope to all in our town. You worketh good amongst those in need. You needn't be cast down with me; then your congregation will be lost without you, and we both would face punishment. I fear not what the townspeople will do. Mine own salvation relies upon me and Heaven above."

"I cannot, I cannot..." he said.

She touched his mouth. She kissed him. "Sweet Arthur, like your kind words to condemned men before they venture forth to the scaffold, take me and hold me a final time."

"I cannot!" he cried.

Hester spread her cape like a blanket over the grass. "Tis one last time before a lifetime of mine outward shame. In my heart, before God, we promised each other when we spake our truths and are married in our hearts. Be it no more sin than between any man and his wife. Be it one last time before judgmental eyes follow me henceforth. Please."

He did not object again. She loosened his ministerial vestments, his powerless anguish unable to stop her, a sensation stirring within him at her tender touch. Soon they were both undressed, and despite knowing the high penitence he would have to mark on his skin, he took her in a familiar way, falling into a reverie as Adam fell with Eve. No more words needed said over the heavy breaths and moans, their bodies feeling pleasure that could not outweigh their worries.

Hester soaked in every inch of him, seeing him for his true nature beneath his title. Whatever would come for her next, she did not care. It was God's will that she found her love, and nothing in this realm could stop her heart from what was meant to be. They both cried when it was over, knowing their bond would be their doom.

The pastor and his parishioner loved each other physically for the final time, but their hearts would forever be united in slight joy and eternal judgement.

At that moment, they could think of nothing and want for nothing else but to be loved so.