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What about

"An ornery old man was standing ..."
or maybe
"A cantankerous old man was standing ..."[/quote]

Better than "rickety," but I think it's too simplistic. You don't want to "give...

"A rickety old man was standing next to a beautiful, elegant young lady in the kitchen of a grand house."

First of all, you need a comma in there (and it would be two if "young lady" weren't like...