Miss Sharp in the Presence of the Enemy

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. Catching sight of kindly stockbroker's daughter Amelia Sedley, Becky dabs away her tears and laments her misfortune. Amelia takes pity on the poor orphan and offers to take her home for the week. She has nowhere else to go. Amelia's dreams are like any other girl's – she wants to be married and happy. But Becky wants to make sure tomorrow is better than today, and plans to seize the opportunity to better herself. Becky quickly makes herself at home at the Sedley house, where she targets Amelia's wealthy but oafish brother, Jos. With Amelia's enthusiastic help, Becky makes it her mission to charm Jos into proposing marriage before the week is out. Amelia persuades her snobbish fiancé, Lieutenant George Osborne, to take the whole party out for a romantic night at the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens - the perfect chance for Becky to secure Jos's affections. George brings along his best friend Captain William Dobbin, who is secretly in love with Amelia. At Vauxhall Becky hangs on Jos's every word, willing him to propose to her. But Jos is much more interested in drinking rack punch and ends up making a drunken fool of himself. When George ridicules his choice of an impoverished bride and scares Jos off, Becky knows exactly who to blame for scuppering her plans.Becky must now leave the Sedley house and take up her position as governess at a rundown old mansion in darkest Hampshire. Alone in the world again, Becky catches sight of Captain Rawdon Crawley, her new master's dashing youngest son.