Taking care to select his wines judiciously, and having good
opportunities, he managed to obtain possession of some delicious
vintages, which, could not be matched elsewhere; and, with this nectar
at his command, the fortune of his house was made. All the town gallants
flocked to the Three Cranes to dine at the admirable French ordinary
newly established there, and crush a flask or so of the exquisite
Bordeaux, about which, and its delicate flavour and bouquet, all the
connoisseurs in claret were raving. From, mid-day, therefore, till late
in the afternoon, there were nearly as many gay barges and wherries as
lighters lying off the Vintry Wharf; and sometimes, when accommodation
was wanting, the little craft were moored along the shore all the way
from Queenhithe to the Steelyard; at which latter place the Catherine
Wheel was almost as much noted for racy Rhenish and high-dried neat's
tongues, as our tavern was for fine Bordeaux and well-seasoned pates.
Not the least, however, of the attractions of the Three Cranes, was the
hostess herself. A lively little brunette was Madame Bonaventure, still
young, or, at all events, very far from being old; with extremely fine
teeth, which she was fond of displaying, and a remarkably neat ancle,
which she felt no inclination to hide beneath the sweep of her round
circling farthingale. Her figure was quite that of a miniature Venus;
and as, like most of her country-women, she understood the art of dress
to admiration, she set off her person to the best advantage; always
attiring herself in a style, and in colours, that suited her, and never
indulging in an unwarrantable extravagance of ruff, or absurd and
unbecoming length of peaked boddice.
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