Ultimately he
decided to abandon the study of the law in order to become a priest, and
against the wishes of his father he entered the Seminary at Plassans. La
Conquete de Plassans.
After being ordained to the priesthood he was appointed cure of Les
Artaud, a small village in Provence, to whose degenerate inhabitants
he ministered with small success. From his parents he had inherited
the family taint of the Rougon-Macquarts, which in him took the form of
morbid religious enthusiasm bordering on hysteria. Brain fever resulted,
and bodily recovery left the priest without a mental past. Dr. Pascal
Rougon, his uncle, in the hope of saving his reason, removed him to
Paradou, the neglected demesne of a ruined mansion, where he left him in
the care of Albine, the keeper's niece. Here Serge slowly recovered
his health, though the memory of his past was gone, and his mental
development was that of a boy. In that enchanted garden, lush with
foliage and with the scent of flowers, the drama of life unfolded, and
Serge, loving Albine, and oblivious of his vows unwittingly broke them.
A chance meeting with Brother Archangais, and a glimpse of the
world outside the Paradou, recalled to Serge the recollection of his
priesthood, and, filled with horror, he tore himself from Albine and
returned to his cure of souls.
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