What does それすら来ないと言うこと means?

Question

I was watching some Let's-players on YouTube, where I saw this sentence:

それすら来ないと言うことは……きっと、よほどのことがあったに違いない。

I'd like to know what the first part of it means. Moreover, the entire meaning of the sentence is still a little fuzzy to me.

For some context, here's the sentence before it:

「璃紗の、あの性格上……元気じゃなくても、相手に心配かけないように、無理してでも元気だって返事をするに決まってるわ」

Could you at least clarify what それ means? – naruto Apr 08 '20 at 15:21 — naruto, Apr 08 '20 at 15:21
I thought それすら is a phrase itself – Thuan Khang Apr 08 '20 at 15:25 — Thuan Khang, Apr 08 '20 at 15:25
@ThuanKhang Do you know about すら yet? – psosuna Apr 08 '20 at 17:53 — psosuna, Apr 08 '20 at 17:53

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 09 '20 at 00:29

This sentence uses the AということはB((ということ)だ) construction, which means "The fact that A means B", "If A, then it means B", etc.

In your sentence, A corresponds to それすら来ない and B corresponds to きっとよほどのことがあったに違いない. それすら is just それ ("it") followed by すら ("even"). それ refers to a 返事 from 璃紗. Note that すら can replace the subject marker が, just like は and も. よほどのこと is "something very unusual/extraordinary".

それすら来ないと言うことは……きっと、よほどのことがあったに違いない。
Even one reply has not come...it must mean something very unusual happened (to her).

What does それすら来ないと言うこと means?

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