Rotten by Guilt

The passage from page 114-116 beginning with "Even in the graveyard..." and ending with "...care of this weak frame of mine."
As Chillingsworth discusses what must be the reason for such weird and floppy weird to grow on an unmarked grave. He reasons it must be because he has some dark secret he with closed until his death. He is trying to get Dimmesdale to reveal his position as Pearl's father, by showing him an example of what happens when a secret is kept until the grave. Dimmesdale argues that while it must have rotten him inside out, the keeping of the secret must have been necessary, much as he views his own. He thinks that by revealing his secret, his own life will fall to shambles, and all the extra ridicule and questioning Hester has been through would have been for nothing. Hester's love for Dimmesdale has kept her form telling his identity. She does not want him to sacrifice his reputation and career despite his public pleading to reveal the name of her lover. Their love for one another has created this constant battle they must go through. Hester could leave, she could go back to Europe and rip the scarlet A right off her chest, but her love for Dimmesdale keeps her in Boston. Dimmesdale would love to stand beside Hester, share the blame for their act, but the love he has for her forces him to obey her wishes, to continue to serve the community as a priest. Chillingsworth motives to reveal Dimmesdale as the lover grow more and more inspired as he believes he has found the truth, and begins to try and lure the truth from the lips of its holders.