Read the sentence relating to Roger Chillingworth from Chapter 4 of The Scarlet Letter . “Never, sayest thou?” rejoined he with a smile of dark and self-relying intelligence. What trait of Roger Chillingworth does Hawthorne develop in this sentence?

The phrase “smile of dark and self-relying intelligence” suggests that Chillingworth has a hidden, sinister purpose and believes he understands more than he reveals. It does not portray him as careless or purely well-intentioned; the sentence develops his sinister motivations.

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