A person can protect their reputation while quietly abandoning their character.

Reputation and character can drift apart without anyone noticing, including you. The public record stays intact while the private conduct slips, and because nothing visible changes there is no correction. The gap widens quietly and is usually only discovered when something forces the two into the same room.

Check the distance occasionally. Ask whether anything you are doing would need explaining if it were known, not because exposure is likely but because the question is a reliable measure. Where you find a gap, close it from the character side rather than by getting better at managing appearances.