Reversal of fortune from good to bad. In a tragedy, there are no winners.
It is a story parallel to what is happening in the Usher house.
The palace in the description represents Roderick Usher, whose hair used to be blond, as the yellow banners that wave in the air; through his eyes (the windows of the palace), a harmonious mind could be perceived, and wise words used to flow from his mouth, described as a door of pearl and ruby. However, gloom befalls on Roderick; his hair turns gray, his eyes are reddened by tears, his thoughts are discordant, and his mouth utters only the wild laughter of a madman.
If you want to use consistent verb tenses in telling a story, that means you have to use the same tense, or at least they all should be in the past/present/future, depending on the first verb in the sentence. Here, the correct answer is:
B) I met Rob for the first time in the school infirmary, and he smiled at me even though he was clearly in pain.