MOURET (FRANCOIS), born in 1817, son of Mouret and Ursule Macquart, his
wife. He got a situation in the business of his uncle, Pierre Rougon,
whose daughter Marthe he married in 1840. They had three children,
Octave, Serge, and Desiree. On the retirement of his uncle, Mouret
returned to Marseilles and established himself in business there. La
Fortune de Rougon.

During fifteen years of close application on the part of Mouret and his
wife, he made a fortune out of wines, oil, and almonds, and then retired
to Plassans, where he lived on his means, making an occasional deal in
wine or oil when a chance occurred. He was not on good terms with his
wife's relations, and placed himself politically in opposition to them
by supporting the Legitimist candidate, the Marquis de Lagrifoul. In
1858, having two vacant rooms in his house, he was induced by the Abbe
Bourrette to let them to Abbe Faujas, a priest who had been sent to
Plassans by the Government to undermine the existing clerical influence
there, which had been exercised in support of the Marquis de
Lagrifoul. Mouret was a man of narrow and restricted intellect, and his
peculiarities became more and more marked as the Abbe Faujas gradually
came to dominate the household and induce Madame Mouret to neglect her
husband and family for the service of the Church. By degrees Mouret
came to be regarded as insane, and his wife having had several epileptic
attacks, he was accused of having caused the injuries she had really
inflicted on herself. His wrongful removal to the asylum at Les Tulettes
followed, and confinement soon confirmed the insanity which before had
only threatened. In 1864, his uncle, Antoine Macquart, in order to annoy
the Rougons contrived his escape from the asylum, and he returned by
night to his home at Plassans. Finding it in the occupancy of Abbe
Faujas and his relatives, he was overcome by the fury of madness, and
set fire to the house in several places. So thoroughly did he do his
work that all the inmates, including himself, perished in the flames. La
Conquete de Plassans.