"i had told them that i should not return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. these orders were sufficient, i well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned."

a. irony/sarcasm
b. setting
c. characterization
d. tragic resolution

The correct answer is option A "Irony/sarcasm". Irony/sarcasm in a text is used when the opposite happens of what is actual told in a text. The excerpt fits this description, since the narrator states that he should gave orders of not returning until the morning because that is what happened. This implies that the author actually ordered to return home early.