About a month passes, Arthur's twenty-first birthday dawns clear and warm, and all the tenants of the estate prepare for a day of celebration: the heir has come of age. At the Hall Farm, Hetty is dressing for the party. We discover that she has received some pearl and garnet earrings from Arthur and that she thinks Arthur loves her.
The whole family proceeds to the Chase, where the tenants from all over the estate are gathering. Arthur is walking about with Mr. Irwine, surveying the scene with obvious satisfaction; he is the hero of the day. He mentions some of his plans for making himself popular on the estate when he becomes the owner of it and adds that he has succeeded in persuading his grandfather to take Adam on as master of the Chase woods. Adam has accepted the position and Arthur is to announce the news today. Mr. Irwine teases Arthur about setting up the situation so as to draw favorable attention to himself, and Arthur blushes, tacitly admitting the charge.
Adam has been asked to eat with the "large tenants" (holders of sizeable farms) rather than with the village workmen, and he goes up with Bartle Massey. He is welcomed openly there, and some good-humored banter passes. Hetty is at the next table and smiles at him, a smile which to her is mere flirtation but to Adam is a sign of favor.
In Chapter 24, Arthur and Mr. Irwine, who are making the rounds of all the guests, come in, and a number of impromptu speeches and toasts are made. Arthur feels uneasy about accepting the praise because of his secret affair with Hetty, but he suppresses his sense of guilt quickly. He announces Adam's appointment as master of the woods, and Adam makes an acceptance speech, expressing his gratitude and his resolution to handle the job responsibly.
Chapter 25 describes the games held in the afternoon. The gentry, from whose viewpoint the chapter is mostly written, comment on the various guests and distribute prizes to the winners of the different events. We learn that Arthur plans to give Hetty up.
At the ball that night, the romantic entanglements among Adam, Hetty, and Arthur become more confused. Arthur treats Hetty coldly at first, which frightens her. Adam goes to claim Hetty's hand for a dance, and as they talk, a locket which she has been wearing out of sight accidentally falls to the floor. It is clearly a lover's token, containing two entwined locks of hair. Adam is shocked that Hetty would have such a thing, and he leaves the dance feeling that she must be in love with another man. But he soon convinces himself that this could not be the case and forgets about it. Meanwhile, Arthur has made an appointment to meet Hetty in the wood in two days' time; he has definitely resolved to break off the romance.
