No one but a woman can help a man when he is in trouble of the heart, and he had no one to comfort him.
Quincey’s absolute claim is tender hyperbole meant to honor Mina’s care. He isn’t making a universal law so much as praising the kind of presence Arthur needs. The line reveals Quincey’s plain-spoken code: feelings matter and should be tended to, not mocked. It also shows how the novel treats “help” as action—sitting with grief is part of the hunt’s moral work. By naming Arthur’s lack of comfort, Quincey quietly asks Mina to keep doing what saves hearts. The moment binds the circle through empathy, not just plans and weapons. Readers feel the dignity in simple consolation amid terror.