When the London Review of Books called Barbara Pym “a brilliant comic writer,” they had scenes like this in mind. Here’s how Pym does it: First, emotion is expressed – not by someone beautiful and in love, but by Daphne, the lonely older sister of the vicar. She points to a patch of purple, thinking she sees violets. However, it’s just a candy bar wrapper. Her brother quickly identifies the litter in the grass, as if to quash all hope. Even the young doctor moves away from Daphne. He wasn’t unkind; he just preferred taking blood pressures. Outbursts weren’t his thing.
Pym, Barbara. A Few Green Leaves. Harper & Row, 1980, p. 4.