The Exiles

On the day of the dance, Mathinna finds out that she will be sharing the dance floor with Sir John for the big performance. The guests crowd around her to stare at her in her fine evening wear, with women referring to her as an “it in a ball gown” (263). Mathinna speaks perfect French to thwart their preconceived notions of her, and the guests find her to be extraordinary. Before the dance begins, Mathinna grabs a goblet filled with liquor off a tray and downs it quickly, surprised at the heat it creates in her stomach.

The dancing begins, and Mathinna quickly becomes the center of attention, playing the role she has prepared for. Sir John and the other guests “observe her with bemused delight” (266), until Sir John runs out of breath and must sit down. While Mathinna watches the other guests dance, she downs another glass of the golden liquid. Through the haze that fills her mind, she realizes that she will never be equal to these other people on the dance floor, even if she looks and dresses the part. She begins to sway back and forth, feeling the rhythm of the music in her body. She embodies old Aboriginal tribal music in her mind, and her body reacts with elaborate arches and turns. Suddenly, the music stops, and Mathinna opens her eyes to find everyone watching her. Lady Jane approaches with disdain and blames her “[reversion] to her natural savage state” (269) on her intoxication. She sends Mathinna to her room.

Everything changes for Mathinna after the party. Sir John, who usually invites her for morning walks around the garden, ignores her. Eleanor leaves for a trip to Sydney without telling her goodbye. Party guests come and go with no invitation for Mathinna. Mrs. Wilson laments that the Franklins tried to change Mathinna into their own likeness, but it proved to be impossible.

One day, the Franklins leave suddenly for holiday, and the house falls dormant with nothing to do. Mathinna wanders the property alone and soon enters a deep depression. She sneaks into Lady Jane’s curio room and stares at the artifacts from her father and mother. Realizing that she is just another exhibit, she goes downstairs to the cockatoo’s cage and sets it free, wishing she could be free herself.

The next morning, Mathinna is sick with fever. Hazel discovers her and begins treating her with her poultices and cures. She reveals that Mrs. Crain sent all the convict maids back to the Cascades because they were not needed, but she returned because she felt like something was wrong with Mathinna. Hazel decides to share her secret with Mathinna—that she is not Ruby’s biological mother. Mathinna falls asleep thinking of all the people that she has lost.

One week after the Franklins return from their holiday, Lady Jane summons Mathinna to the drawing room. She reveals that the family is returning to London, but they are leaving Mathinna behind because “there are limitations to what can be taught and the progress one might be expected to make” (278). Though Lady Jane blames the abandonment on Mathinna’s bout with pneumonia, Mathinna recognizes that she has not lived up to Lady Jane’s plans for her. She tries to counter Lady Jane’s assertions with facts about her health, but Lady Jane remains resolute—Mathinna will not be going with the family, but she does not let Mathinna know if the girl will be returned to Flinders. Mrs. Wilson reveals that Mathinna will probably be sent to the Queen’s Orphan School instead.

Several weeks later, Mathinna opens the door of her room to find all of her belongings gone. To her shock, Mrs. Crain says that her trunk has been packed and a carriage awaits her to take her to the orphanage. When Mathinna asks to say goodbye to the Franklins, she finds that they have already gone. Hazel comes to tell her goodbye and promises to visit her at the orphanage when she goes to visit Ruby. She hands Mathinna her going away present—the three shell necklaces that Lady Jane took from her. Hazel stole them from the curio room because they belong to Mathinna, not Lady Jane. Hazel tells Mathinna the story of the tree rings that she learned from Evangeline—that her rings are made up of all those she loves, and that she “[carries] them with [her] wherever [she] go[es]” (283). Mathinna thinks about how her shell necklaces represent the same thing—she is the thread, and all the shells are the people and places that she treasures. She thinks back on her time with the Franklins and ponders all she has left behind in Flinders, but also all she has learned in Hobart Town. Mathinna decides to not let fear control her life.