The Exiles

Wintertime in Hobart Town drags on for Mathinna, and she is unwanted everywhere she goes. She often finds herself in the kitchen listening to Mrs. Wilson tell stories about how she became a convict—from throwing away old rags at her old employer’s home. There is a new convict maid at Government House named Hazel, and Mathinna enjoys hearing her banter with Mrs. Wilson—no other convict maid has ever “challenged the cook” (254) before. Mathinna draws closer to Hazel, for Hazel is the only one who takes time to listen to her tell stories about Flinders. Hazel is the “first person she’[s] met in this place who talked to her like a real person” (257), and Hazel offers to teach her some tools of healing in regards to the local herbs and plants.

The Franklins decide to host a dinner party at the house to celebrate springtime, and Mathinna will be the main attraction—but only after she learns to properly dance from Eleanor. Eleanor is quite an effective teacher. She employs a few of the other hired hands to engage in a pseudo-dance party, and Mathinna prides herself at learning how to dance in the true English-style very quickly.