The Exiles

Though Hazel tries to visit Mathinna at the Queen’s Orphan School, the warden denies her the right because she is not Mathinna’s mother. However, the warden does reveal that Mathinna has “reverted to her natural savage state” (288) and continues to be belligerent and insubordinate. Due to her being uncontrollable, she has been forced into solitary confinement.

A few weeks later, when Hazel waits for the carriage to take her to the orphanage, the matron pulls her aside to take her to the superintendent, who wants to see her. Mr. Hutchinson accuses Hazel of not being Ruby’s biological mother—an anonymous stranger vouched for the fact that he was on the Medea with both Evangeline and Hazel and knew that the child was not Hazel’s. He accuses her of “[claiming] the child in order to receive preferential treatment” (290) in the nursery, and Hazel claims to have lied to save Ruby’s life. Hutchinson denies Hazel the right to see Ruby any longer—because she took no active part in nursing the child and therefore has no legitimate claim to her—which devastates Hazel. She is punished for her crime and sentenced to two weeks in solitary confinement and the loss of her hair.