Chapter 49 Summary

A flashback reveals Lord Steyne has forced his wife and Lady Gaunt to invite Becky to dinner. They threaten to not come to dinner if Becky is invited, but he insists. The ladies then plan a way to make Becky feel absolutely unwelcome. At dinner, in the present, Rawdon is decidedly uncomfortable. He has never been very comfortable around women at all and now spends the majority of his time in smoking and gambling clubs away from refined people. Becky is introduced to Lady Steyne, and she mentions that Lord Steyne once purchased art from Becky's father. She says she has felt indebted to him since she was a child.

Becky then meets the rich noblewoman from Belgium who was so cruel to her. Becky makes a sassy comment about the horses. The ladies at dinner try to alienate Becky by speaking only...