Read the following excerpt from a fictional narrative:
"The quietude of the abandoned mansion enveloped him, the fading grandeur whispering the remnants of laughter and lost dreams. Shadows danced behind the peeling wallpaper, echoing stories of opulence swallowed by time. Each creak of the floorboards beneath his hesitant steps felt like an intrusion upon a sacred space, a place where memories had toiled and aged like fine wine, lying in wait, shrouded in dust yet alive in essence."
Which of the following aspects of diction and syntax most contributes to the tone of nostalgia in this passage?