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“Well, I may venture so far as to say that the paper gives its holder a certain power in a certain quarter where such power is immensely valuable.” The Prefect was fond of the cant of diplomacy.
This quotation comes from the prefect’s rather vague attempt to describe the theft of the letter without explicitly implicating the royal lady—the Queen—in the process. Because the stolen letter puts her in so much danger, all details of this case take on national import and therefore involve the utmost secrecy. This secrecy is why it takes the prefect so many attempts and compromises to figure out how to even describe the issue to Dupin and the Narrator. In asking for Dupin’s aid, the prefect could potentially put the royal lady in more danger if Dupin or the Narrator were not sympathetic to her cause.
“Yes,” replied the Prefect; “and the power thus attained has, for some months past, been wielded, for political purposes, to a very dangerous extent.”
Here the prefect describes the disastrous political effects of Minister D–– stealing the letter. Because the royal lady knows Minister D–– could potentially reveal the letter, she has become a political puppet of Minister D–– through his blackmail. Even though this crime may seem like a small theft, because it involves such important figures at the French court, it takes on stakes involving the security and stability of the country.
