The setting is the time and place in which a story happens. There are two types of setting categories: One, the setting is directly said, and the reader judges the setting from clues in the story. In the story, the setting applies to the second category. The setting of this story is in Mrs. Sappleton's Victorian-style home in the United Kingdom countryside. We know it is in a country area because it is applied early in the story as a “rural retreat.”
Vera uses her comments to direct Framton's attention toward the window. For example, she says he must be querying why they keep it wide open on an October afternoon. That tells us she wants him to think about the window if he wasn't already. Vera also says her aunt keeps the window open in an abandoned hope. It also tells us she wants to press in more about the window.