Donissan faints, only coming to in the morning, when he encounters Mouchette wandering in the fields. He tells her that he can see her life and thoughts and that she must repent for her sin of killing Cadignan. She goes back to her parents' house and cuts her throat with a razor. Fearing the worst, Donissan goes there and finds her body. He carries it bleeding to the church, where he lays it before the altar in the hope that her soul will be saved.