Scarlet letter conclusion

Well I finally finished Scarlet Letter. It wasn't a bad book, but it just moved very slowly. The end was pretty unexpected since everything was wrapped up in a way we didn't expect it to. For instance, Dimmesdale finally confessed in front of the whole society on the scaffold where 7 years earlier, Hester and Pearl had to stand. We also notice how there is something in his chest, which is all up to one to interpret. To me it was a result of Chillingworth's poison that led to Dimmesdale getting a rash on his chest then later on led him so start torturing himself and marking it with an A as punishment. What still seems weird to me is that when Dimmesdale was confessing, Chillingworth wanted to save/protect him. For a man who has been wanting to poison and torture Dimmesdale, it sure seems weird he is wanting to protect him. The part that i most expected was when Dimmesdale died in the arms of Hester since we all saw it coming.