In The Scarlet Letter Hester tells Chillingworth, "It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge. Were I worthy to be quit...

In chapter XIV of The Scarlet Letter, titled "Hester and the Physician", the two talk quite openly about the current situation in which they are both involved. Chillingworth goes as far as telling Hester that he has heard from a reliable source that the magistrates are considering the removal of the letter from Hester's chest. He even tells Hester that he spoke on her behalf asking them to please remove it. This implies that she has found some form of redemption among the elders of the village, more than likely due to all the charitable work and kind disposition that she has offered everyone.

However, Hester does not budge. She knows that the letter has served a purpose in her life. Unfortunately for Hester, she believes that what she did is a burden that she must carry forever. As such, she also understands that the letter has allowed her to see life for what it really is; it has helped her grow up mentally and, perhaps even, spiritually. The letter, which has been made to shame her publically and to make her feel lesser, has actually exalted her internally to a position where she feels in complete control of her life. It is a strange thing, but it is exactly what it all has amounted to. For this reason, she tells Chillingworth,

It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge.

In other words, she is saying that the opinion of the elders matters very little to her, especially when it comes to the badge. They are not the ones wearing it, and they did not go to the scaffold to receive it. They are not the ones getting the public scorn and maleficence from the villagers. They have no clue what she has gone through, hence, who are they to decide how she is supposed to wear (or not wear) this specific token?

The badge has served a purpose, indeed. However, this purpose is unique to Hester. She has abided by what the badge has prescribed for her, whether it is good or bad. Hester has learned and grown with the badge. She is, ultimately, the one who should decide what to do with it.

Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport

She is stating here that if they decide to make an event of the removal of the badge, then the whole symbolism that the badge has for Hester will take a completely different significance.

The elders will likely make a "show" of the removal of the badge, and the scarlet letter will be a political or manipulative symbol of their control. Hester does not see the letter that way. To her, this has been the best lesson she has learned in life. Therefore, she does not want this to be used in a way that will take away all that it has done for her.

The irony is precisely that. Like Hawthorne says later on, "the scarlet letter had not done its office". This means that it did not shame Hester, nor made her into a public display of embarrassment. If anything, despite of its negative connotation, the scarlet letter has been good for Hester. She actually is defending her right to wear it, and the significance that it carries.