Vanity Fair

The narrator describes the recent events of Becky’s life since her fight with Rawdon. As Rawdon is preparing to depart for Coventry Island, Becky tries to win favor with Pitt Crawley, but it seems that Lady Jane is preventing her from making any progress. Wenham, Lord Steyne, and Rawdon all agree that for the sake of avoiding a scandal, it’s best to get Becky out of the country.

Becky is so busy managing her own affairs that she doesn’t pay attention to Rawdy, who gets sent to live with Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane. Becky doesn’t keep in touch with Rawdy until about a year later, when Pitt Binkie dies (and so Rawdy becomes the heir to Queen’s Crawley). After the death, Becky writes Rawdy a very affectionate letter.

Before writing that letter, when Becky first leaves England, she goes to the French coast, where she impresses people with exaggerated stories about her life. She begins drinking more and wearing more make-up. She also starts going to church and trying to sing louder than anyone else, but she still struggles to get the respect she wants. As she tries to avoid her past, Becky ends up moving around a lot, often as soon as people learn the real story of her past.

Becky gets bored of trying to please people by being virtuous. She faces further trouble in Paris when she runs into creditors who remember her from 1815, and so she moves on to Brussels, Belgium. At first, Brussels is pleasant; being there reminds of old times, and she enjoys drinking champagne and taking rides in the country. But before long, she starts racking up debts that she can’t pay, and so she continues to wander across Europe.

Becky earns a reputation at every gambling table in Germany, gambling away money as soon as she gets it. The narrator writes that the less said about this period of Becky’s life, the better. She essentially lives like a “vagabond,” and no one knows how she gets her money—rumor spreads that she might even be a Russian spy.

As Becky wanders, it happens that she’s in Rome when she receives her salary for half the year. The new income makes her seem rich, and so she gets invited to a fancy ball, which she attends with Major Loder, the man she’s traveling with at the time. At the ball, she and Major Loder go around drinking a lot of champagne. There, she happens to notice Lord Steyne after she recognizes the new scar on his forehead. As soon as Becky sees him again, Major Loder seems vulgar to her.

Becky locks eyes with Lord Steyne for just a few moments before Major Loder pulls her away. The next day, Becky is out walking and runs into Lord Steyne’s valet. She thinks he has a message for her, but in fact, the valet just warns her that Rome is unhealthy this time of year. He says if she doesn’t leave, she’ll fall ill and die.

Becky doesn’t believe that Lord Steyne would actually assassinate her. But when the valet stresses how angry Lord Steyne is, Becky finally agrees to leave. Lord Steyne will die in 1830 after the Second French Revolution, due to the shock of seeing the monarchy fall. The newspaper will praise Lord Steyne highly, then his heirs will argue intensely about how to interpret his will.