Final answer:
The reference passages provided do not contain clear information about Neddy Merrill's actions, and without further context or information about the literary work, we cannot accurately determine which option describes what Neddy Merrill's hands were doing.
Step-by-step explanation:
Based on the provided reference passages, Neddy Merrill's hands were not clearly doing any of the actions listed in the options. In the text fragments, there is no direct mention of Neddy Merrill, his actions, or context about him holding a glass of champagne, swimming in the pool, waving to his neighbors, or clasping his wife's hand. Therefore, without additional context from the story or knowing which literary work these excerpts are from, it's impossible to confidently select one of the provided options.
However, from the second provided text passage, we can infer that the character in the excerpt is trying to free their hands in an effort to escape a perilous situation by diving into the water, which might suggest the character is in the context of swimming or attempting to swim. Yet, without explicit mention of Neddy Merrill or direct reference to the options given, we cannot conclude this action definitively corresponds to Neddy Merrill's actions.