The despicable final actions of Julien Sorel

For those who have not read Stendahl's The Red and the Black (1830) there will be some spoilers in this post, which describes the denouement and the dramatic series of concluding events, which, if memory serves, are based on an actual occurrence at the time. The plot tkaes a major turn when Julien Sorel's beloved, the titled daughter of his employer, Mlle Mathilde de la Mole, becomes pregnant; she tells Julien she must write to her father and explain that she was the one who seduced J, that she accepts him as her husband, and if her father will give them a modest annual income they will leave for Switzerland and never trouble him in the future. M de la Mole is infuriated, screams at Julien - Julien says he will walk in the garden and M de la M can have one of his servants shoot him to death. Of course no shooting happens; the father eventually relents to a degree and says he will supply them w money and he manages to buy Julien as position on the Army as a lieutenant - typical aristocratic arrogance, as J has no military qualifications and he leapt over several men in line for promotion, but no matter. J had always wanted to prove his military valor, so here's his chance (he has no trouble giving up his aspirations to rise in the church hierarchy, and in fact he never had any sort of religious calling). Things seem to be going OK but for some reason M de la Mole wrote to Julien's former employer, I'm not sure why, and that led to his receiving a long letter from the first woman J seduced, Mme Renal, who recounts that J is a seducer and traducer and a social climber of the worst sort - all quite accurate. This letter further infuriates M de la Mole - and J is exposed. So Julien goes back to Mme Renal's town, enters church for a Mass, sits behind Mme Renal, pulls out a pistol and shoots her twice point blank. What a hero, what a tough guy, shooting a woman in the back, in chuch no less. He's immediately arrested, and he prepares to be executed, understanding that he deserves to die - but wait, he learns the Mme Renal survived the attack (on top of everything else, this would-be military hero is a piss-poor shot), so now what? Julien must wrestle w/ his fate and his faith, but if by this point we don't all know that he's a despicable low-life, regardless of his looks, intelligence, or social status (by which I clearly do not mean the "class" unto which he was born - he would have been better off working in his father's saw mill or, as he was not so suited in any event, working as a Latin instructor, leading a normal and productive life).