Read the excerpt from “A Country Cottage,” in which a couple is relaxing near a train station.

What aspect of the excerpt most advances the plot?

A.
the story’s mood
B.
the main characters’ thoughts and feelings
C.
the arrival of minor characters
D.
the setting of the train station


A Country Cottage
by Anton Chekhov

Two young people who had not long been married were walking up and down the platform of a little country station. His arm was round her waist, her head was almost on his shoulder, and both were happy.

"How beautiful it is, Sasha, how beautiful!" murmured the young wife. "It all seems like a dream. How nice those solid, silent telegraph posts are! They add a special note to the landscape, suggesting humanity, civilization in the distance. Don't you think it's lovely when the wind brings the rushing sound of a train?"

Three eyes of fire could be seen in the distance. The stationmaster came out on the platform.

"Let's see the train in and go home," said Sasha, yawning. "What a splendid time we are having together, Varya, it's so splendid, one can hardly believe it's true!"

"Look! look!" they heard from one of the carriages. "Varya and Sasha have come to meet us! There they are! . . . Varya! . . . Varya . . . Look!"

Two little girls skipped out of the train and hung on Varya's neck. They were followed by a stout, middle-aged lady, and a tall, lanky gentleman with grey whiskers; behind them came two schoolboys, laden with bags, and after the schoolboys, the governess, after the governess the grandmother.

"Here we are, here we are, dear boy!" began the whiskered gentleman, squeezing Sasha's hand. "Sick of waiting for us, I expect! You have been pitching into your old uncle for not coming down all this time, I daresay! Kolya, Kostya, Nina, Fifa . . . children! Kiss your cousin Sasha! We're all here, the whole troop of us, just for three or four days. I hope we shan't be too many for you? You mustn't let us put you out!"

At the sight of their uncle and his family, the young couple were horror-stricken. While his uncle talked and kissed them, Sasha had a vision of their little cottage: he and Varya giving up their three little rooms, all the pillows and bedding to their guests; the salmon, the sardines, the chicken all devoured in a single instant; the cousins plucking the flowers in their little garden. . . .

And Sasha looked almost with hatred at his young wife, and whispered:

"It's you they've come to see!"

"No, it's you," answered Varya, pale with anger. "They're your relations! They're not mine!"

And turning to her visitors, she said with a smile of welcome: "Welcome to the cottage!"