Oh, I definitely think it's a tactical application of something he sees as true, and virtue in service of evil ends. All of that cool-headed charismatic competence, including giving righteous speeches in the face of death, is something Hugo tends to give to either his heroes or his Noble Villains. This guy is not a hero, I think that's obvious, so I'm betting on Noble Villain. I would be very surprised if he was cynically Machiavellian. But I guess we'll see!