I believe the answer is: A. Dante believed that a sinners punishment should be a serve as his sin
In Dante's inferno, hell is divided into several levels, and the punishment/torture that given to humans would be most severe as the sinners go down to the lower levels. The first level on Dante's circle of hell is given to the people who do not believe in Christianity while the lowest level is given to the traitors of christianity.
Answer: I would contend that the right answer is actually "to fake."
Explanation: Just to elaborate a little on the answer, it can be added that one of the meanings of the verb to affect is to feign, which can be translated as to pretend or to give a false appearance of something. If the character was trying to "conceal certain inconvenient emotions" which, nevertheless, "seemed inclined to assert themselves" by affecting high spirits, he was, therefore, faking those high spirits, in order to hide his true feelings from the people who had just arrived.
