The key to this answer is Saki's ironic last
sentence:
Romance at short notice was her
specialty.
Vera, whose name
comes from the Latin word for truth, takes the truth and
romanticizes it cleverly into a tall-tale. But, before she does this, Vera is very
shrewd. This "very self-possessed young lady of fifteen, asks
Framton,
'Do
you know many of the people round here?''Hardly a soul,'
said Framton.He made the last statement in a tone of
disctinct regret.
When Vera
ascertains that Framton is ignorant of the Stappleton family or anyone connected to him,
she realizes that she can easily fabricate a story which the nervous and ill at ease
Framton will accept in his apparent desire to know about people as his tone is one of
"distinct regret."
As she weaves her tale of Mrs.
Stappleton's "great tragedy," Vera pieces together the forthcoming events with the
fictional events that she creates, centering them around the open window, an object
that, with its openness, suggests honesty. To add to the effect of tragedy, Vera
dramatically breaks off "with a little shudder" just as Mrs. Stappleton arrives,
mentioning the forthcoming return of her husband and
son.
Mrs. Stappleton's yawning disregard for Framton's
feelings as he "announces" his condition and need seems to underscore Vera's suggestion
that Mrs. Stappleton is delusionary. Then, when the men arrive and Mrs. Stappleton does
just as Vera has predicted, Framton looks at Vera with "sympathetic comprehension."
However, Vera dramaticizes the moment by staring "with dazed horror in her eyes," thus
making it seem as if she has just seen ghosts, an action that frightens the already
mentally excited Framton.
Clearly, Vera's penchant and
practiced talent for the romantic--the exaggerated and disquieting events,
the mysterious atmosphere, the tragic milieu--along with her understanding of her aunt's
supercilious nature and the vulnerability of her listener, Mr. Framton, are what
contribute "at short notice" to the realism of this
narrative.
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