Stephanie Williamson said: “Élisabeth Leseur, a devout Catholic, learned of her husband’s atheism on the eve of their wedding. When Félix gave Élisabeth some reading material he thought would dismantle her Christian beliefs for good, his offer had the opposite effect. Élisabeth saw the weaknesses in arguments proposed by authors like Renan and Voltaire, who had led so many Christians to lose their faith. She immersed herself in intellectual and theological works and built up a wealth of counter-arguments in favor of the existence of God. But Élisabeth kept quiet about these, choosing to write them down in a diary rather than create debate with her husband. She followed this practice her entire life, believing that controversy, especially within a couple, was pointless.”