Mr. Hooper is a minister in a small town who shocks the town by appearing one day with a black veil covering his face.  The town stands in shock as he enters the crowd.  He delivers his sermon, and afterwards his parishioners go home without inviting him to lunch (as is the custom).

Surprising the town again, he performs a funeral still covered by the veil.  Then he performs a wedding.  The town is outraged.  It's not proper for a a minister to hide his face from his people- especially at a wedding.

So, a group is formed to go ask the minister about his new accessory.  However, the group finds that once they arrive they cannot ask him about it. The group is tongue tied and so distracted by the veil they cannot achieve their mission.

An embassy of parishioners visits Mr. Hooper because the black veil he wears is really bothering everyone, but no one individual person is brave enough to confront him about it and ask why he is wearing it. Therefore, the church comes together and decides to send a small group of men to call on Mr. Hooper and find out why he is wearing this veil now and what it means. However, “never did an embassy so ill discharge its duties.”

Mr. Hooper is his usual friendly self; he sits quietly and allows the men to take responsibility for sharing the purpose of their visit—even though it seems completely obvious why they have come—but the men find that no one is actually able to broach the topic of the veil. They seem to feel that it would be easy enough to discuss it were Mr. Hooper to take the veil off, but they find it impossible to bring up. They are filled with a sense of dread, and they become fearful while imagining some secret between themselves and the minister.

Thus they sat a considerable time, speechless, confused, and shrinking uneasily from Mr. Hooper's eye, which they felt to be fixed upon them with an invisible glance.

Although their visit lasts for quite some time, they never are able to bring themselves to ask about the veil directly.