Helena kneels before the Countess to confess her secret and unrequited love for the Countess's son, Bertram. She articulates the purity of her devotion despite the social disparity between them, likening her hopeless adoration to a religious ritual.
HELENA: I confess
Here on my knee before high heaven and you,
That before you, and next unto high heaven,
I love your son. My friends were poor but honest; so's my love.
Be not offended, for it hurts not him
That he is loved of me.
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