The death of the constable had made him miserable at heart, but the failure of the plot also.

He did not conceal either of these sentiments from his empanelled countrymen, and that sort of compunction appeared shockingly imperfect to the crammed court.

The judge on passing sentence commented feelingly upon the depravity and callousness of the young prisoner.
That made the groundless fame of his condemnation; the fame of his release was made for him on no better grounds by people who wished to exploit the sentimental aspect of his imprisonment either for purposes of their own or for no intelligible purpose.

He let them do so in the innocence of his heart and the simplicity of his mind.

Nothing that happened to him individually had any importance.