Chapter 47 Summary

This chapter opens by describing the great wealth of Lord Steyne, the marquis. He owns numerous properties and castles, including a block-long house on Gaunt Street across from the Pitt Crawley's London home. The Steyne family line goes back to nobility for hundreds of years. His wife is unpleasant and superstitious, and Lord Steyne is rarely seen with her. He does, however, force her to have dinner with unfavorable yet wealthy people. The Londoners suspect some great secret around the family.

There is a long discussion about family lines and debts and breaks with the Catholic Church. The narrator suggests these trifles are important in Vanity Fair and then continues to show the marquis's wife praying every morning for forgiveness for her separation from the Catholic Church in marrying Lord Steyne. It seems that mental disorders run in Lady Steyne's family, and one...