"But," said he, "I could be at liberty to direct myself. Is it not so?"
"Of course," I replied; and "such is often done by men of business, who do not like the whole of their affairs to be known by any one person."
[...]
"Do you wish me to stay so long?" I asked, for my heart grew cold at the thought.
"I desire it much; nay, I will take no refusal. When your master, employer, what you will, engaged that someone should come on his behalf, it was understood that my needs only were to be consulted. I have not stinted. Is it not so?"
What could I do but bow acceptance? It was Mr. Hawkins's interest, not mine, and I had to think of him, not myself; and besides, while Count Dracula was speaking, there was that in his eyes and in his bearing which made me remember that I was a prisoner, and that if I wished it I could have no choice. The Count saw his victory in my bow, and his mastery in the trouble of my face, for he began at once to use them, but in his own smooth, resistless way:—
"I pray you, my good young friend, that you will not discourse of things other than business in your letters. It will doubtless please your friends to know that you are well, and that you look forward to getting home to them. Is it not so?" As he spoke he handed me three sheets of note-paper and three envelopes. They were all of the thinnest foreign post, and looking at them, then at him, and noticing his quiet smile, with the sharp, canine teeth lying over the red underlip, I understood as well as if he had spoken that I should be careful what I wrote, for he would be able to read it.
"Now I know well that you medical men speak in camera, and that a man must not expect to know what they consult about in private. But this is no common matter, and, whatever it is, I have done my part. Is not that so?"
"That's so," I said, and he went on:—
"I take it that both you and Van Helsing had done already what I did to-day. Is not that so?"
"That's so."
"And I guess Art was in it too. When I saw him four days ago down at his own place he looked queer. I have not seen anything pulled down so quick since I was on the Pampas and had a mare that I was fond of go to grass all in a night. One of those big bats that they call vampires had got at her in the night, and what with his gorge and the vein left open, there wasn't enough blood in her to let her stand up, and I had to put a bullet through her as she lay. Jack, if you may tell me without betraying confidence, Arthur was the first, is not that so?" As he spoke the poor fellow looked terribly anxious. He was in a torture of suspense regarding the woman he loved, and his utter ignorance of the terrible mystery which seemed to surround her intensified his pain. His very heart was bleeding, and it took all the manhood of him—and there was a royal lot of it, too—to keep him from breaking down. I paused before answering, for I felt that I must not betray anything which the Professor wished kept secret; but already he knew so much, and guessed so much, that there could be no reason for not answering, so I answered in the same phrase: "That's so."
I don't remember who it was that first pointed out the way Dracula uses language in this passage to entrap Jonathan, but I thank them from bringing it to my attention because it let me notice Quincey doing something very similar today. They both use this confirming question "Is it/that not so?" three times in one conversation to get their way. But they do it for vastly different purposes, with Dracula using his words to entrap and restrain Jonathan more and more, until he eventually is forced to conceal the truth. Meanwhile, Quincey uses his words to draw Jack out and convince him to be more open, until eventually he is convinced to share his burden.
The first time, they precede it with a statement of what is generally accepted to be true, and link it to their own actions, in doing so refuting an objection that would normally be raised. People can hire multiple lawyers if they wish and it's legal for Dracula to have done so. The question of whether this is true derails any objection about it being unnecessary, because Dracula's not asking that. He's asking if this is the situation. Of course. Doctors usually speak in confidence about their patients, but this is an unusual situation where Quincey happened to overhear their conversation, as well as already donated his own blood. The question of whether this is true derails any objection that he shouldn't be privy to this information, because he's not asking that. He's asking if this is the situation. That's so.
The second time, they both are pushing further, and once again citing earlier experiences in order to avoid refusal. Dracula expresses his desire for Jonathan to stay, and references their contract, stating that he was told Jonathan would serve him however he wanted. Here Jonathan could say that what Dracula's asking has nothing to do their work which is already completed, but both the phrasing (which threatens that Jonathan refusing will reflect badly on Mr. Hawkins) and the next line move the conversation along before any such refusal can be given. Dracula has upheld his end of the agreement. What can Jonathan do but accept? Quincey extrapolates from his own experiences and references the conversation he overhead to seek more information. This no longer directly involves him and could be seen as confidential, but the way he phrases his inference (based on evidence meaning he pretty much already knows) and then seeks confirmation moves things along to make it harder to deny him. That's so.
The final time is the biggest ask. Dracula puts on his smoothest voice as he tells Jonathan he wants him to write his letters but only speak of business. In fact, he tells Jonathan exactly what to write about. He phrases it as though this is what the recipients would most like to hear, that he's doing well and looks forward to being home. And once again, that's true but writing it would be a lie. Because Jonathan isn't doing well and doesn't know when he'll be coming home. And yet Jonathan can tell from the way Dracula phrases it that he must tell this lie anyway, because his letters will be read and he will suffer if he writes differently. So we've moved on finally from Dracula doing what he wants on legal matters, to keeping Jonathan under his control as long as he wants, to making Jonathan act against his own wishes by hiding the truth of his situation.
Quincey's final one is his biggest ask as well. With this one, he moves past his own direct experience into speculation about an event he wasn't present for; but he makes it a point to bring up his own experiences once again which lead him to think what he does, both that Arthur gave blood since he seemed weak, and that Lucy is suffering from something causing her extreme blood loss like the vampire bat that killed his horse. Just like Dracula, Quincey expresses emotion on his face/with his voice here, but it's genuine and not a deliberate act in the same way. He also, like Dracula, brings up other loved ones and makes Jack consider the feelings of others, whereas previous statements/responses were more fact-based. Except the loved one whose feelings Jack is considering is Quincey himself. We see that Jack decides to speak because there's no point in him hiding information anymore, since Quincey has already established how much he's figured out. So we've moved on from Quincey only speaking of his own experiences, to those he's witnessed being discussed, to things he's speculated about, and he has managed to learn the entire truth by convincing Jack to speak to him.
It's just kind of a cool contrast that I never noticed before.
annaxmalina
