Act 2, scene 1 The King bids farewell to the French courtiers going off to war, having commanded Bertram to remain behind.When Helen reveals her plan to try to cure the King with medicines left her by her father, the Countess gives Helen permission to go to court, promising to support her in her “attempt.” Act 1, scene 3 Bertram’s mother, the Countess of Rossillion, learns of Helen’s love for Bertram and forces Helen to confess this secret.He welcomes Bertram to court, lamenting his own failing strength. Act 1, scene 2 The King of France refuses to take sides in the war between Siena and Florence, giving his courtiers permission to fight on either side.Helen, whose own physician-father has recently died, knows that her hidden love for Bertram can never be requited because of their difference in social rank, but decides that the King’s disease may offer her a chance to “show her merit.” Act 1, scene 1 Bertram, having become a ward of the court upon his father’s death, departs from Rossillion.Helen, now pregnant, reappears, saving Bertram and demonstrating that she has met his conditions. When false news comes that Helen is dead, Bertram faces the charge that he has killed her. Bertram refuses to consummate the marriage and goes off to war, sending Helen a list of seemingly impossible conditions to be met before he will consider her his wife.To meet his conditions, Helen substitutes herself for a woman whom Bertram desires, and sleeps with him. Helen heals the ailing king, and he grants her wish to marry his ward. When the count dies, Bertram becomes a ward of the French king, who is dying of a fistula. It becomes her challenge to win his acceptance.Helen, the daughter of a dead physician, secretly loves Bertram, the Count of Rosillion’s son.
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