In The Open Window, we are introduced to the character of Framton Nuttel, a hypochondriac who fancies himself ill with a nervous complaint. He goes to the country to try to cure his bad nerves. Reluctantly, he agrees to visit his sister's previous acquaintances there and it is at the home of one of these- Mrs. Snappleton- that Framton meets the young girl, Vera.
Vera is a very interesting character. She is remarkably self-possessed for her age (fifteen) and obviously is a good judge of character. She certainly sizes up Nuttel quickly and accurately and impishly plays on his jumpiness and insecurity. Framton- and the reader- are disposed at first to take Vera at face value, regarding her as an innocent young girl. Even her name, Vera, from the Latin for "truth" suggests believability. As we soon realize, however, her guileless appearance is a facade, hiding a mischievous and slightly malicious flare for deception and drama. A lot of Saki's works center on characters who hide their true natures or motivations behind a veneer of goodness.