In this chapter, the reader learns that the first duke of the tulip family spoke a language that no one else in his family spoke. This language was called "singular," which means "beyond the sea." The reader also learns that this language is spoken in his hometown, which means that everyone in the town knows it. The reader is curious as to how this language came to be spoken in the first place. The first duke's hometown is "thousands of miles overseas," so he would like to know how he came to the mainland. He says that he came on a ship, but they were lost and ended up on a shipwreck.