Page "Vanity Fair (novel)" Paragraph 9

Becky and Rawdon appear to be financially successful, but their wealth and high standard of living are mostly smoke and mirrors.

Rawdon gambles heavily and earns money as a billiards shark.

The book also suggests he cheats at cards.

Becky accepts trinkets and money from her many admirers and sells some for cash.

She also borrows heavily from the people around her and seldom pays bills.

The couple lives mostly on credit, and while Rawdon seems to be too dim-witted to be aware of the effect of his borrowing on the people around him, Becky is fully aware that her heavy borrowing and her failure to pay bills bankrupts at least two innocent people: her servant, Briggs, whose life savings Becky borrows and fritters away, and her landlord Raggles, who was formerly a butler to the Crawley family and who invested his life savings in the townhouse that Becky and Rawdon rent ( and fail to pay for ).

She also cheats innkeepers, milliners, dressmakers, grocers, and others who do business on credit.

She and Rawdon obtain credit by tricking everyone around them into believing they are receiving money from others.

Sometimes, Becky and Rawdon buy time from their creditors by suggesting Rawdon received money in Miss Crawley's will or are being paid a stipend by Sir Pitt.

Ultimately Becky is suspected of carrying on an extramarital affair with the Marquis of Steyne, apparently encouraged by Rawdon to prostitute herself in exchange for money and promotion.