What can you infer about hawthorne's message from the following passage?
a. the next day, the whole village of milford talked of little else than parson hooper's black veil.
b. that, and the mystery concealed behind it, supplied a topic of discussion between acquaintances meeting in the street, and good women gossiping at their open windows.
c. it was the first item of news that the tavern keeper told his guests.
d. the children babbled of it on their way to school.