David is now working in London as a clerk at Spenlow's and living at Mrs. Crupp's house. However, her fondness for "peppermint cordial" renders her incapable of fulfilling her promise to Aunt Betsey to treat David as if he were her own son. // A chance meeting with his old schoolfriend, James Steerforth, leads to David being invited to dinner with Steerforth's mother. David also discovers from Agnes that her father's clerk, the lurking and evil Uriah Heep, is to become a partner in her father's business - and the stage is set for a bitter battle.