It was no wonder, when she stood one day against the stone pillar in whose shadow she had lain asleep, eighteen years before, th
at Armand Aubigny riding by and seeing her there, had fallen in love with her. That was the way all the Aubignys fell in love, as if struck by a pistol shot. The wonder was that he had not loved her before; for he had known her since his father brought him home from Paris, a boy of eight, after his mother died there. The passion that awoke in him that day, when he saw her at the gate, swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong over all obstacles. Which best describes how Armand Aubigny fell in love with the girl?
A) slowly but consistently
B) immediately and instantly
C) over the course of many years
D) when he became elderly
I'm not an expert, but I'd think that it would be over the course of many years. He didn't love her at first, so it wouldn't be slowly but consistently. However, he did know her for a long time, so it wouldn't be immediately and instantly. I think the pistol reference was only to confuse you to B, even though he didn't fall in love with her when he was 8.
