Father was a Freemason, mother a devout Catholic. He did not finish school and was educated at home. He began writing early, kept a diary, and drifted away from religion. From 1864 he worked as a minor clerk in Paris through his father’s patronage. In 1868 he met Barbey d’Aurevilly, who brought him back to Catholicism and whose voluntary secretary he became. He took part as a volunteer in the Franco-Prussian War. He made his debut in 1875. He published in newspapers and magazines and was known as an ardent polemicist. He was deeply affected by the deaths of Barbey d’Aurevilly and Villiers de l’Isle-Adam. In the 1900s he became close to Georges Rouault, Jacques Maritain, and the composer Georges Auric.