What is the main conflict in The Tin Princess by Philip Pullman?

Tin Princess by Philip Pullman is the story of Becky Winter who accepts a position as a tutor to Adelaide Bevan and begins an adventure that no one could ever imagine. Rebecca Winter is sixteen in 1882 and is walking through the St. John's Woods area of London. She is on her way to meet her first pupil. Rebecca speaks German, Italian, English, French, and Spanish and is learning Russian. Her family had been forced into exile from central Europe when she was three years of age and she now lives with her mother and grandmother in Maida Vale. Becky wanted to attend the university. She also wanted romance.