tea In Ladies' Novels
What would women novelists do without tea in their books?
The novelists of the rougher sex write of over the coffee and
cigars; or, around the gay and festive board; or, over a
bottle of old port; or, another bottle of dry and sparkling
champagne was cracked; or, and the succulent welsh rarebits
were washed down with royal mugs of musty ale; or, as the
storm grew fiercer, the captain ordered all hands to splice the
main brace, i. e., to take a drink of rum; or, as he gulped
down the last drink of fiery whiskey, he reeled through the
tavern door, and his swaying form drifted into the bleak, black
night, as a roar of laughter drowned his repentant sobs. But the
ladies of the novel confine themselves almost exclusively to
tea--rarely allowing their heroes and heroines to indulge in even
coffee, though they sometimes treat their heroes to wine; but
their heroines rarely get anything from them but Oolong.