_Hedwig:_ [_With a shrug._]
A breeding-machine! [_They all draw back._] Why not call it what it is?
Speak the naked truth for once.
_Hoffman:_
You'll take that back to-morrow, when your sister stands up in the
church with me.
_Hedwig:_ [_Starting up._]
Amelia? Marry you? No! Amelia, is this true?
_Amelia:_ [_Hesitating, troubled, and uncertain._]
They tell me I must--for the fatherland.
_Hedwig:_
Marry this man, whom you scarcely know, whom surely you cannot love!
Why, you make a mock of marriage! It isn't that they have tempted you
with the widow's pension? It is so tiny; it's next to nothing. Surely
you wouldn't yield to that?
_Amelia:_ [_Frightened._]
I did want to go as a nurse, but the priests and the generals--they say
we must marry--to--for the fatherland, Hedwig.
_Hoffman:_ [_To Hedwig._]