He knew he was a rogue, but there were limits to roguery, and something in him--conscience, maybe, or forgotten gentility--sickened at this outrage.

He had an impulse to defy them, to gain the street and give the alarm to honest men.

These fellows were going to construct a crime in their own way which would bring death to the innocent....

Mr.Lovel trembled at himself, and had to think hard on his family in the Billingsgate attic to get back to his common-sense.
He would not be believed if he spoke out.

Oates would only swear that he was the culprit, and Oates had the ear of the courts and the mob.
Besides, he had too many dark patches in his past.