Lowly teaching assistant Becky issues headmistress Miss Pinkerton with an ultimatum – pay her properly to teach at her Academy for Young Ladies or find her a station elsewhere. Miss Pinkerton calls Becky's bluff, and Becky is forced to pack away her meagre possessions. Kindly stockbroker's daughter Amelia Sedley takes pity on the poor orphan and offers to take her home for the week.
In darkest Hampshire, Becky spends her days as governess to Sir Pitt Crawley’s neglected daughters. Her employer's handsome youngest son, Rawdon, does his best to interest Becky in a flirtation. But Becky's ambition is to get into her employer's good books, and soon she is promoted to the position of Sir Pitt's indispensable secretary.
Becky is left alone in the world and living in greatly reduced circumstances when Steyne arranges for Rawdon to be shipped overseas. Dobbin discovers that Amelia plans to remarry, a revelation that inspires him to finally confess his feelings for her - but he is not prepared for her reaction. The Sedley family takes a holiday in Germany, where they are unexpectedly reunited with Becky - who gets the chance to perform a single good deed. Last in the series.