Staggering the evidence: his trust in me
To comfort Constance. How should Margaret know
More than the facts, or I deny the facts,
Should I plead for him? And yet against the facts
The man himself: his soul revealed to me;
And my persuasion of him. O, he has fallen
To the popular side. Moreover, his acquittal
Were Hugo’s ruin. I cannot help him: nay,
Not though I would; and Fate, which thrusts him down,
Is kind to me.