Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Adaptations; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Stories, plots, etc. -- Juvenile literature
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, her imagination presenting no image to her
mind but Bertram's.
Helena had long loved Bertram, yet she always remembered that he was the
Count of Rousillon, descended from the most ancient family in France.
She of humble birth. Her parents of no note at all. His ancestors all
noble. And therefore she looked up to the high-born Bertram as to her
master and to her dear lord, and dared not form any wish but to live his
servant, and so living to die his vassal. So great the distance seemed
to her between his height of dignity and her lowly fortunes, that she
would say, "It were all one that I should love a bright particular star,
and think to wed it, Bertram is so far above me."
Bertram's absence filled her eyes with tears and her heart with sorrow;
for though she loved without hope, yet it was a pretty comfort to her to
see him every hour, and Helena would sit and look upon his dark eye, his
arched brow, and the curls of his fine hair, till she seemed to draw his
portrait on the tablet of her heart, that heart too capable of retaining
the memory of every line in the features of that loved face.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account