In chapter 15 of David Copperfield, Miss Betsey Trotwood takes her great-nephew to the house of Mr. Wickfield, her lawyer. Her intention is to ask Wickfield's advice concerning David's education. She wants to enroll him in a school in Canterbury, where she is certain he will be properly treated.

At first, Mr. Wickfield appears a little unsure of Betsey's motives. He thinks her intention to send David to school is more than just an expression of a desire to give her nephew a good education and the right start in life. But Betsey is insistent, and the matter drops.

Wickfield takes Betsey to a local school, with which David's great-aunt is most impressed. That just leaves the little problem of where David is to stay while he's at school. Mr. Wickfield makes Betsey a generous offer: he will put up David at his house.

Betsey is very pleased with the arrangement. More to the point, so is David. He's very happy at the prospect of staying in such a nice home, especially as he's drawn to Mr. Wickfield's daughter Agnes.

All in all, David's first day at Mr. Wickfield's house is a very happy one. There is one fly in the ointment, however, and that is the presence of the unctuous, creepy-looking Uriah Heep. David instantly finds Mr. Wickfield's law clerk to be utterly repellant, so much so that he wipes his hand after shaking hands with him.