Chapter 39 Summary

Mrs. Bute Crawley is enraged that her nephew finagled the inheritance money. She refuses to show disappointment in public, however. The family cuts extreme corners at home to put on a show of wealth in public, as befits members of Vanity Fair. Meanwhile, Sir Pitt has become a dirty, old drunken man who takes up with his servants and lets his property go to ruin. Pitt junior and Lady Jane have an embarrassing visit with him, in which Sir Pitt gives Lady Jane a handful of jewels. Sir Pitt puts his lover, Miss Horrocks, in charge of all the other servants and even dresses her in his dead wives' clothes. The only thing he will not give her is the jewelry, which he sneaks to Lady Jane. Miss Horrocks longs to learn to write so she can write her name as Lady Elizabeth...