A thousand times rather would I have confessed myself guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine; but I was absent when it was committed, and such a declaration would have been considered as the ravings of a madman, and would not have exculpated her who suffered through me.
– Mary Shelley
Frankenstein, Chapter 8. Victor wrestles with his own guilt and confession regarding William’s death. But he knows his confession would not matter and only make him look mad.