Chapter 12, pg. Dimmesdale takes Pearl's hand, which sends a new rush of energy through the minister's body. As they stand on the scaffold, Pearl asks Dimmesdale if he will stand with the two of them like this tomorrow at noon. He says no, but that one day he will indeed stand there with the two of them. He then goes on to say that Judgment Day will be when they stand together, but never in this world will they do so.
Pearl responds with a laugh.
At that moment, a meteor streaks across the sky, throwing a red streak across the sky that lights up the whole town square. Pearl, with her characteristic naughty, witchcraft-like expression, withdraws her hand from Arthur Dimmesdale's and points across the street. The meteor's trail, to which Dimmesdale directs his gaze, has taken the shape of a big, red 'A' streaking across the sky. However, Pearl was not pointing at the meteor's streak but at Roger Chillingworth, who was also returning from Governor Winthrop's deathbed, and who is now gazing, with a terrible and malevolent expression, at the three people standing on the scaffold. Dimmesdale reacts with terror at the sight of Chillingworth, and asks Hester if she knows the man.