What was the atmosphere and moods in Maupassant's story: moonlight?

This is a great short story because of how the mood
changes. Brilliant!

In the beginning, the mood is like the
priest's heart. Angry, dried up, judgmental, prideful. He thinks that God owes HIM an
explanation for why he has created thus and such. And, he thinks God made a huge mistake
when he created women. The priest hates women because they are the opposite of what he
is -- loving. He has a niece who is demonstrative and loving, and when he learns she has
a lover, he resolves to take care of this once and for all. In anger, he strikes his
cane and breaks it. The mood for the first part of this story is brooding and almost
evil.

Ah..........but as he leaves to take care of the
situation with his niece, to surprise her and her lover, he walks out into the
moonlight...........

The moonlight is symbolic of God's
love. It transforms the priest. At first he wonders why God even wasted his time
creating the night -- no work could be done at night, no harvesting -- did God make a
mistake like he did when he created women? As he walks out, he really sees the beauty of
God's creation for the first time. The mood is totally different in this part of the
story. There is beautiful nature imagery as the priest's soul opens up to God's
wonderous purpose for the first time. He concludes that the night is for love, and that
love is wonderful. When he sees his niece walking with her lover, he has an ephiphany
and it totally changes him.