Read the passage from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe:

"During a dull, dark, and soundless day in autumn, when the clouds hung oppressively low, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country. At length, I found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, upon the vacant eye-like windows, upon a few rank marsh plants, and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation. There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an unredeemed dreariness which no goading of the imagination could transform into something sublime. What was it, I paused to think, what was it that so unnerved me about the House of Usher?"

Select the correct answer. Why does Poe choose to begin the story in this way?

A. To provide background information about the history of the house.
B. To quicken the pace of the narrative.
C. To challenge the audience's expectations about what the house is like.
D. To establish both the physical setting and the mood of the story.