Now, why would Hawthorne mention this man who wore a similar veil, just to say the man had a different motivation for wearing it? I think even though it says the man wore the veil for a different reason than Hooper, that he has the same cause as that other preacher to wear the veil. .
Along those lines, there also happens to be a young woman who has just died. When Hooper views the body before the funeral ceremony, he makes sure to hold the veil so it does not swing down and reveal his face to the dead body (375). Why would he care so much to not let a dead person "see" his face? Perhaps he was getting emotional seeing her one last time and did not want the other people present to see. I am not saying he killed the young lady, but he could have been a cause for her death. Maybe they were lovers caught up in a steamy affair. During the funeral procession, one woman looks back and says that she has "a fancy that the minister and the maiden's spirit were walking hand in hand" and the person she was walking with confirms her feelings (376). It is kind of weird that the preacher would be holding hands with a ghost. Even his wife has some doubts about his faithfulness. She confronts him demanding that he tells her the reason why he is wearing the veil. "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 with this scandal" (378-9). She sounds like a jealous wife who has heard rumors of an affair and since he will not tell her the reason he wears the veil, she assumes the worst. And we can infer the worst. So if there was an affair and he called it off and she committed suicide, he might feel guilty. Or perhaps she became pregnant with his bastard child and through complications with abortion she died. Any of these reasons are enough to cause him to be heartbroken and even feel guilt about her death.