But Mrs…. Surely you will … my name is Loth … I am … I'd like to
… I haven't the slightest in….
MIELE
He wants to speak to Mr. Hoffmann.
MRS. KRAUSE
Oho! beggin' from my son-in-law. We know that kind o' thing! He ain't got nothin'; everything he's got he gets from us. Nothin' is his'n.
[The door to the right is opened and HOFFMANN thrusts his head in.
HOFFMANN
Mother, I must really beg of you! [He enters and turns to LOTH.] What can I … Alfred! Old man! Well, I'll be blessed. You? That certainly is … well, that certainly is a great notion!
[HOFFMANN is thirty-three years old, slender, tall, thin. In his dress he affects the latest fashion, his hair is carefully tended; he wears costly rings, diamond-studs in his shirt-front and charms on his watch chain. His hair and moustache are black; the latter is luxurious and is most scrupulously cared for. His face is pointed, bird-like, the expression blurred, the eyes dark, lively, at times restless.