Possession is nine points of the law
The Secret of Chimneys“Possession is nine points of the law” is a proverb Giuseppe Manelli invokes while blackmailing Virginia Revel, using his possession of her private letters to claim practical power over her despite her argument that they belong to their author. Its force in the exchange lies in the difference between what the law may recognize and what a person can threaten to do before the law is called upon.
Meaning in the Exchange
Giuseppe answers Virginia’s objection by conceding that the proverb may not describe the law precisely, then insisting that possession still gives him an advantage. He asks whether she is prepared to seek legal help, turning the saying from a general observation about possession into a pointed challenge: the letters are in his hands, and she must decide whether to risk invoking the law against him.
Use as Blackmail
The proverb is part of Giuseppe’s pressure on Virginia, not a neutral statement of legal doctrine. He has read the letters and describes them as a woman’s correspondence with her lover, each expressing fear that her husband will discover the affair. He threatens to take them to her husband, making the documents’ private contents the instrument of his leverage.
Virginia counters that the law is severe toward blackmailers. Their exchange sets two forms of legal exposure against each other: the danger that the letters will disclose her past, and the danger that Giuseppe will be punished for using them to extort her. The proverb helps Giuseppe present his immediate control of the evidence as more consequential than the possibility of a later legal remedy.
Narrative Significance
The saying condenses the scene’s conflict into a contrast between possession and rightful ownership. Virginia insists that the letters belong to the person who wrote them; Giuseppe replies that ownership offers little protection while he controls the papers and can threaten disclosure. The proverb therefore captures his temporary advantage without settling the moral or legal question in his favor: possession gives him leverage, but the exchange also makes clear that his leverage depends on blackmail and on Virginia’s fear of exposure.
