How does Dimmesdale treat Chillingworth when they first met in "The Scarlet Letter"?

This is an odd relationship. Dimsdale must maintain separateness from Hester. He is the father of Pearl but can not let anyone know. Chillingworth is a "doctor" of sorts and Hester's actual husband. Their first meeting is stilted but Dimsdale must keep up his act. A minister can't be having illegitimate children and then hide behind the adulteress. Eventually the two (Dimsdale and Chillingsworth) move in together. Dimsdale suffers from a mysterious illness of the heart. Chillingworth tends to him but one wonders what Chillingsworth's angle is. Has he poisoned Dimdsale? There is also a homoerotic subtext going on between the two. Emotionally both leach off each other. Chillingsworth seems to enjoy the intellectual discourse and is slowly destroying Dimsdale. For Dimsdale, Chillingworth keeps his guilt alive. It is a sort of penance that Dimsdale indulges in. Yes, it's all very twisted.

Forgive my spelling errors. The spelling of the names are Dimmesdale and Chillingworth.