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]
