All's Well That Ends Well — Act 2, Scene 1: Paris. The KING's palace.

At the king’s palace in Paris, the King bids farewell to the young lords who are leaving for the Florentine war and gives them advice about honor and danger. Parolles encourages Bertram to slip away and join them, but Bertram says he must stay at court, where he feels treated like a boy. The lords depart, and Bertram and Parolles leave as Lafeu arrives to speak privately with the King. Lafeu praises a new medicine and brings in Helena, who explains that she is Gerard de Narbon’s daughter and offers her father’s cure for the King’s illness. The King resists at first, but Helena argues boldly, wins his trust, and receives permission to try.