So I was right!… That's it … Aha … well, to be sure … then I have no further cause for surprise. So he actually used the opportunity to go for his benefactor a bit. Of course, one should really be prepared for things of that kind.

HELEN

Do you know, I think that is really caddish.

HOFFMANN

I'm inclined to think so myself.

HELEN

He didn't breathe one syllable, not one, about you.

HOFFMANN

[Slurring HELEN'S argument.] If things have reached that pass, then it is really my duty, my duty, I say, as a relative toward an inexperienced young girl like you …

HELEN