The author describes Vera as being self-possessed. This would be about the same as being poised, relaxed, self-assured, self-confident, and sophisticated. The author emphasizes these qualities to prepare the reader and Framton Nuttel for a shock when she fakes a look of dazed horror while staring out the open window.
The girl is obviously intelligent, imaginative, and creative. She is shrewd about judging people. She is cautious, as she shows by questioning Framton Nuttel before telling him her story about the hunters being accidentally killed three years ago while walking on the moor.
We can assume that Vera is bored and restless. As a young girl in Victorian times she has no freedom. She cannot go hunting with the men because that just wasn't done. She seems like an avid reader. Since she is bored and restless in her confinement in this big old house, she probably favors escapist-type reading about travel and adventure. She must have gotten that story about the man being pursued by pariah dogs from a book.
One of her outstanding character traits is that she is mischievous. She keeps this trait a deep secret and pretends to be a polite, well-bred, conventional young lady. But underneath her self-possessed exterior, she is a young rebel. She doesn't like being used as a substitute hostess, because she realizes that her aunt is training her to become another dumb country housewife like herself--and Vera doesn't want to become another Aunt Sappleton.
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