In the first form of this example, "he would be shocked" is a definite, finished statement, the necessary qualification to which should follow with as little pause as possible. But in the inverted form, the first part of the sentence—"if he were to know the truth"—is not a finished statement, and the mind may pause for a moment before going on to the consequence, knowing that the consequence must follow.
(2) No point is needed if there be a very close grammatical connection between the dependent clause and some word or words preceding it.
They had so long brooded over their own distresses that they knew nothing of how the world was changing around them.
Note that by the word "so" the clause "that they knew nothing" is joined very closely to the previous part of the sentence; and that the two clauses "that they knew nothing" and "how the world was changing around them," are even more closely joined to one another by the preposition "of." For the same reason, where the object is a clause, there is no point before it.
He confessed to us that he had not thought over the matter.
A useful distinction will afterwards be drawn between the different kinds of relative clauses. ([Rule XIV.])
X. Words thrown in so as to interrupt slightly the flow of a sentence are marked off by commas.
He resolved, therefore, to visit the prisoner early in the morning.
This, I think, is the right view of the case.