As it becomes clear the Mr. Hooper is in his final moments, the Revered Mr. Clark asks him if he is ready to have the veil lifted to which the Minister replies, “my soul hath a patient weariness until that veil be lifted.” However, just as Mr. Clark goes to remove the veil, Mr. Hooper summons a great deal of energy and prevents him from taking it off. He uses his last bit of energy to address those around him, saying they should not be frightened of him, but of one another because no one showed him any pity, all because of a simple black veil. He says he looks around him and on everyone he sees there is a black veil. Everyone shrinks back in fright and before anything can be done or said, Reverend Hooper dies, still veiled with that same faint smile. They do not remove the veil when he goes to the grave.
The most questionable aspect of the text is not the official last paragraph of the story, but the note, which comments on another clergyman who also wore a black veil but it was found that in early life he had accidentally killed a good friend and thus wore the veil until he finally died.