They knew something of the man personally, and could not believe him to be a thief.

All the ladies in Silverbridge, too, were sure of his innocence.

It was to them impossible that such a man should have stolen twenty pounds.
"My dear," said the eldest Miss Prettyman to poor Grace Crawley, "in England, where the laws are good, no gentleman is ever made out to be guilty when he is innocent; and your papa, of course, is innocent.
Therefore you should not trouble yourself." "It will break papa's heart," Grace had said, and she did trouble herself.

But the gentlemen in Silverbridge were made of sterner stuff, and believed the man to be guilty, clergyman and gentleman though he was.

Mr.
Walker, who among the lights in Silverbridge was the leading light, would not speak a word upon the subject to anybody; and then everybody, who was anybody, knew that Mr.Walker was convinced of the man's guilt.