And he certainly was not alone; he felt that he had many brothers, priests with ravaged minds, who had sunk into incredulity, and who yet, like soldiers without a fatherland, remained at the altar, and, despite, everything, found the courage to make the divine illusion shine forth above the kneeling crowds.
On recovering his health Pierre had immediately resumed his service at the little church of Neuilly.

He said his mass there every morning.

But he had resolved to refuse any appointment, any preferment.

Months and years went by, and he obstinately insisted on remaining the least known and the most humble of those priests who are tolerated in a parish, who appear and disappear after discharging their duty.

The acceptance of any appointment would have seemed to him an aggravation of his falsehood, a theft from those who were more deserving than himself.