Chapter 19 Summary

Mrs. Bute is hard at work being kind to Matilda Crawley's house staff. Rawdon has never been particularly kind to them, and while the staff is more than eager to help Mrs. Bute, they only obeyed Rawdon out of obligation. Mrs. Bute steels herself for a battle of wits against Becky Crawley to win Matilda's inheritance.

Mrs. Bute knows Matilda really does like Becky and Rawdon better than the Bute children, and she is worried Matilda will miss them in her severe illness, which does not get better under Mrs. Bute's care. Mrs. Bute develops a plan to get Reverend Bute to speak to the dying Matilda about her spiritual health. She starts telling Matilda awful stories about Rawdon and then visits Miss Pinkerton to learn the history of Becky Sharp.

Mrs. Bute goes to Becky's childhood home and learns that her parents...