_Hoffman:_

Why not?


_Hedwig:_

Do I have to tell you, stupid? I am a woman: I can get in the crops; I
can keep the country going while you are away fighting, and, most
important, I might give you a soldier for your next army--for the
kingdom. Don't you see my value? [_Laughs strangely._] Oh, no, you'd
never shoot me!


_Mother:_

There, there, don't excite her, sir.


_Hedwig:_ [_Her head in her hands, on the table._]

God! I wish you would shoot me! If you don't give me back my Franz! I've
no mind to bring a son into the world for this bloody thing you call
war.


_Hoffman:_