The chapter begins by introducing Barnabas Tyrrel, Fernando’s neighbor. Barnabas is someone who would have “passed for a true model of the English squire (74). His mother spoiled him, feeling that “everything must give way to his accommodation” and that he must “never be teased or restricted by any forms of instruction” (75). He grew into a muscular man who was “arrogant, tyrannical to his inferiors, and insolent to his equals” (75).

Barnabas felt threatened when Ferdinando came to town, seeing Ferdinando as “an animal that was beneath contempt” because of his smaller appearance and thinner frame (78). The townspeople also noticed the differences between the men: “[T]hey could not help remarking the contrast between the two leaders in the field of chivalry,” as Barnabas seemed to pay “no attention to any one’s pleasure but his own,” whereas Ferdinando seemed to be “all good-humor and benevolence” (79). At a dance, a single woman named Miss Hardingham flirted with Ferdinando to see what Barnabas would do, and the two men argued over her before Ferdinando left angry.