I wanted to be a nurse.


_Hoffman:_

Nonsense! Pretty girls like you should marry. The priests and the
generals have commanded it. It's for the fatherland. Ought she not to
wed me, Mother?


_Mother:_ [_Nodding impersonally._]

Aye, it is for the fatherland they ask it.


_Hoffman:_

Of course. It is your patriotic duty, Amelia. You're funny. All the
young women are tickled at the chance. But you are the one I have picked
out, and I am going to have you. Now, there's a good girl--promise!

[_A hubbub of voices and a cheer are heard outside side. Enter Minna,
flushed, pretty, light headed._]


_Amelia:_

Minna!