In Rossillion, the Countess, Bertram, Helen, and Lafew (a lord) are in conversation together. Bertram, now the Count of Rossillion, is leaving to go to the court of the King of France because he is not old enough to take up his role as Count. His mother, the Countess of Rossillion, laments that she has lost her husband, Bertram’s father, who died recently, and is now losing her son to the court. The Countess, Bertram, and Lafew discuss the French King’s illness: a “fistula,” (an abnormal connection of tissue between body parts). The Countess laments that Helen’s father, Gerard de Narbon, recently died, as he was a great physician. Helen is now a ward of the Countess, and the Countess speaks highly of her, which causes Helen to cry. The Countess remarks that Helen may only be pretending to be sad, but Helen insists that her grief is real. The Countess bids farewell to Bertram, sending Bertram and Lafew on their journey to the King’s court.

Helen is alone on stage. She remarks that she lost her father, but she is sadder to lose Bertram. She is in love with Bertram, but he is an aristocrat while she is a commoner, an obstacle to a marriage between them.