h, and the invitation to court was in
the form of a royal mandate, or positive command, which no subject, of
what high dignity soever, might disobey; therefore though the countess,
in parting with this dear son, seemed a second time to bury her husband,
whose loss she had so lately mourned, yet she dared not to keep him a
single day, but gave instant orders for his departure. Lafeu, who came
to fetch him, tried to comfort the countess for the loss of her late
lord, and her son's sudden absence; and he said, in a courtier's
flattering manner, that the king was so kind a prince, she would find in
his majesty a husband, and that he would be a father to her son; meaning
only, that the good king would befriend the fortunes of Bertram. Lafeu
told the countess that the king had fallen into a sad malady, which was
pronounced by his physicians to be incurable. The lady expressed great
sorrow on hearing this account of the king's ill health, and said, she
wished the father of Helena (a young gentlewoman who was present in
attendance upon her) were living, for that she doubted not he could have
cured his majesty of his disease. And she told Lafeu something of the
history of Helena, saying she was the only daughter of the famous
physician Gerard de Narbon, and that he had recommended his daughter to
her care when he was dying, so that since his death she had taken Helena
under her protection; then the countess praised the virtuous disposition
and excellent qualities of Helena, saying she inherited these virtues
from her worthy father. While she was speaking, Helena wept in sad and
mournful silence, which made the countess gently reprove her for too
much grieving for her father's death.

Bertram now bade his mother farewell. The countess parted with this dear
son with tears and many blessings, and commended him to the care of
Lafeu, saying, "Good my lord, advise him, for he is an unseasoned
courtier."

Bertram's last words were spoken to Helena, but they were words of mere
civility, wishing her happiness; and he concluded his short farewell to
her with saying, "Be comfortable to my mother, your mistress, and make
much of her."

Helena had long loved Bertram, and when she wept in sad and mournful
silence, the tears she shed were not for Gerard de Narbon. Helena loved
her father, but in the present feeling of a deeper love, the object of
which she was about to lose, she had forgotten the very form and
features of her dead father, h