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What rumor do the townspeople spread to explain their pastor's black veil?
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The townspeople spread rumors suggesting that their pastor, Mr. Hooper, wears the black veil due to madness or to conceal a secret sin. Initially, some believe he is mentally unstable, but his avoidance of seeing his reflection leads others to speculate that he is tormented by guilt over a grave sin. Despite these whispers, Mr. Hooper never admits the true reason, implying that the veil symbolizes the hidden sins of all humanity.
There are probably plenty of rumors going around town about why the good Mr. Hooper has chosen to hide his face behind a black veil. Paragraph 23 states that the veil and Mr. Hooper are the central topic of discussion of women's gossip and tavern conversations. We are even told that children prattle on about the mystery that is Mr. Hooper and his black veil.
The next day, the whole village of Milford talked of little else than Parson Hooper's black veil. That, and the mystery concealed behind it, supplied a topic for discussion between acquaintances meeting in the street, and good women gossiping at their open windows. It was the first item of news that the tavern-keeper told to his guests. The children babbled of it on their way to school.
The following paragraphs then describe how people are genuinely curious about the black veil; however, nobody is willing...
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to flat out ask Mr. Hooper why he is wearing such a thing.
It was remarkable that all of the busybodies and impertinent people in the parish, not one ventured to put the plain question to Mr. Hooper, wherefore he did this thing.
The one person that is unafraid to ask Mr. Hooper about the veil is Elizabeth. She pleads with Mr. Hooper to explain himself, and he refuses to admit anything. Then in paragraph 33 she announces that there are rumors in the town that he must be wearing the veil to symbolically cover secret sin.
“Beloved and respected as you are, there may be whispers that you hide your face under the consciousness of secret sin. For the sake of your holy office, do away this scandal!”
First, Goodman Gray says that "'Our parson has gone mad!'" and the village physician concurs that "'Something must surely be amiss with Mr. Hooper's intellects [...]." So, they initially whisper to one another that he has actually lost his mind and, in this way, account for the strangeness of the black veil.
Soon, however, Mr. Hooper's unwillingness to see his own reflection in a mirror or pool of water leads his parishioners to say that "Mr. Hooper's conscience tortured him for some great crime too horrible to be entirely concealed, or otherwise than so obscurely intimated." They are correct to associate Mr. Hooper's veil with sinfulness, but they fail to understand (or persuade themselves not to understand) that it concerns more than just his "secret sins," and it refers to their own as well. Readers never find out if there is one significant sin that Mr. Hooper feels compelled to hide or if it is simply his desire to truthfully express what he understands of the human condition. His words on his deathbed indicate the latter.