Marius still practised his religion as he had as a child. On a Sunday he went to Mass at Saint-Sulpice, in the same Lady chapel where his aunt used to take him as a small boy. Lost in thought that day, he went without noticing behind a pillar and knelt on a velvet chair. On its back was written the name Monsieur Mabeuf, churchwarden.
The Mass had barely begun when an old man came up and said: Young man, this is my place. Marius moved aside at once, and the old man sat down in his chair.
When the Mass was over, Marius was still standing a few steps away, lost in thought. The old man came up to him again. He was sorry, he said, to have made him move and to be holding him up now; Marius must have thought him tiresome, so he owed him an explanation. Marius said there was no need, but the old man shook his head.