That very singular man, old Dr. Heidegger, once invited four venerable friends to meet him in his study.

Why did the author choose to describe the four friends as venerable in this sentence?

A) to foreshadow that the experiment will probably go bad in the end
B) to make the sentence more positive, since the story is potentially frightening
C) to suggest that each of the three friends will eventually turn on Dr. Heidegger
D) to let the reader know these guests were respected, admired, and generally well-behaved.