_She looks about her and calls softly:_ Alfred! Alfred! _As she receives no answer, she calls out again more quickly:_ Alfred! Alfred! _She has hurried to the door of the conservatory through which she gazes anxiously. She goes into the conservatory, but reappears shortly._ Alfred! _Her disquiet increases. She peers out of the window._ Alfred! _She opens the window and mounts a chair that stands before it. At this moment there resounds clearly from the yard the shouting of the drunken farmer, her father, who is coming home from the inn,_ Hay-hee! Ain' I a han'some feller? Ain' I got a fine-lookin' wife? Ain' I got a couple o' han'some gals? Hay-hee! _HELEN utters a short cry and runs, like a hunted creature, toward the middle door. From there she discovers the letter which LOTH has left lying on thee table. She runs to it, tears it open, feverishly takes in the contents, of which she audibly utters separate words._ "Insuperable!" ... "Never again." ... _She lets the letter fall and sways._ It's over! _She steadies herself, holds her head with both hands and cries out in brief and piercing despair._ It's over! _She rushes out through the--middle door. The farmer's voice without, drawing nearer._ Hay-hee! Ain' the farm mine? Ain' I got a han'some wife? Ain' I a han'some feller? _HELEN, still seeking LOTH half-madly, comes from the conservatory and meets EDWARD, who has come to fetch something from HOFFMANN'S room. She addresses him:_ Edward! _He answers:_ Yes, Miss Krause. _She continues:_ I'd like to ... like to ... Dr. Loth ... _EDWARD answers:_ Dr. Loth drove away in Dr. Schimmelpfennig's carriage. _He disappears into HOFFMANN'S room._ True! _HELEN cries out and holds herself erect with difficulty. In the next moment a desperate energy takes hold of her. She runs to the foreground and seizes the hunting knife with its belt which is fastened to the stag's antlers above the sofa. She hides the weapon and stays quietly in the dark foreground until EDWARD, coming from HOFFMANN'S room, has disappeared through the middle door. The farmer's voice resounds more clearly from moment to moment._ Hay-hee! Ain' I a han'some feller? _At this sound, as at a signal, HELEN starts and runs, in her turn, into HOFFMANN'S room. The main room is empty but one continues to hear the farmer's voice:_ Ain' I got the finest teeth? Ain' I got a fine farm? _MIELE comes through the middle door and looks searchingly about. She calls:_ Miss Helen! Miss Helen! _Meanwhile the farmer's voice:_ The money 'sh mi-ine! _Without further hesitation MIELE has disappeared into HOFFMANN'S room, the door of which she leaves open. In the next moment she rushes out with every sign of insane terror. Screaming she spins around twice--thrice--screaming she flies through the middle door. Her