Vittime dell'odio e dell'amore

Blumel: [Nicole goes to knock on Colonel von Hohensee's door but it's opened suddenly by the Colonel's orderly, Blumel] Fraulein de Malvines

[he announces to the Colonel. Nicole enters the room]

Oberst: [He clicks his heels and bows to Nicole] Good evening, mademoiselle. I'm very pleased to see you.

[to Blumel]

Oberst: Bring den wein.

Blumel: Ja wohl, Herr Oberst.

Oberst: Well, have you been working hard?

Nicole de Malvines: Hmmm.

Oberst: Well, let's see what you have done since yesterday.

[Goes to the piano]

Oberst: You're not feeling tired now?

[Nicole shakes her head]

Oberst: When one does something one likes, one is not tired, eh?

[Sees Nicole eyeing the food set out on the table]

Oberst: Supper first, music afterwards.

Nicole de Malvines: I'm not hungry.

Oberst: You're very thin. Food is short, I know.

[Grabs her wrist]

Oberst: Come!

[Leads her to the table]

Oberst: See, cake, strawberries.

Nicole de Malvines: And whipped cream

[Smiling]

Oberst: Perhaps you think I deal on the black market?

Nicole de Malvines: No.

Oberst: The cake and the butter come from my home on the Amber Coast.

[Sniffs wine]

Oberst: That is, on the Baltic Sea.

[Pours wine]

Oberst: I, too, have a castle there. Sometimes, I long to see it again.

Nicole de Malvines: That is because...

Oberst: Yes?

Nicole de Malvines: Well, this is not your home. It's Phillipe's. He should be here, not you.

Oberst: Phillipe?

Nicole de Malvines: [Looks at the portrait over the fireplace] My cousin, Phillipe de Malvines.

Oberst: [He turns and looks at the portrait] This gentleman? He has a fine face.

[Serves Nicole a slice of cake]

Oberst: Perhaps you think I enjoy thrusting myself on your hospitality?

[Sits]

Oberst: It is an unfortunate necessity, You have a beautiful country, mademoiselle. But, then, one's own country is always the most beautiful, don't you think? You don't know the Baltic coast?

[Nicole shakes her head]

Oberst: The sea is so blue there. I sometimes think that it is bluer than anywhere in the world. When I was a boy, I was certain of it. But, then, when one is young, one is certain of everything.

[Winces as a spasm of pain crosses his face. He gets up and takes a tablet which he washes down with wine]

Oberst: Forgive me, mademoiselle. I have an old wound that troubles me sometimes.

Nicole de Malvines: [Looking concerned] Hmmm.

Oberst: [Sits down again and eats some cake] Well, the cake should be good. It is baked for me by my old nurse. She looks after my estate when I'm away as I have no family. You think it's strange that I should have a nurse? We all begin the same and end the same.

[Gets up]

Oberst: Have some whipped cream. You're fond of whipped cream!

[Nicole smiles as he serves her the cream]