the scarlet letter, symbol 27

Chapter 10

Mr. Dimmesdale sits by the window in their house looking out on the graveyard. He asks Roger Chillingworth where he got his planted herbs with such a dark, flabby leaf from. Chillingworth's answer sounds like this “They are new to me. I found them growing on a grave, which bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the dead man, save these ugly weeds that have taken upon themselves to keep him in remembrance. They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime.” I think that what he tries to do here is to make Mr. Dimmesdale feel even worse than he does, by saying "which he had done better to confess during his lifetime".  It's obvious that he hints to the secret Mr. Dimmesdale is hiding, and he knows that he won't confess, and that this makes him sick, he feels so bad about it. It's still all about torturing him, but not only by his health, but mental too.