The family was coming on.

Only Morel remained unchanged, or rather, lapsed slowly.
Paul and his mother now had long discussions about life.

Religion was fading into the background.

He had shovelled away an the beliefs that would hamper him, had cleared the ground, and come more or less to the bedrock of belief that one should feel inside oneself for right and wrong, and should have the patience to gradually realise one's God.

Now life interested him more.
"You know," he said to his mother, "I don't want to belong to the well-to-do middle class.