Pearl and Hester disappeared for some time after that. But eventually, Pearl became the richest heiress in the New World, and Hester Prynne returned to her little cottage to continue her simple existence of hard work and charity.
When she finally died at a very old age, she was buried next to an unmarked grave, which along with hers shared a single blank tombstone. Some years later, there mysteriously appeared a shield engraved on the tombstone. It one were to read it, they would see the mscription, “On a Black Background the Letter A in Red.”