He attempted a saccharin, unconvincing falsetto. He frowned. “The thin end of the wedge, don’t you see? It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.”
“Well, at least she’s very good-looking,” I said defensively.
“She’s too far.”
“I think it rather suits her.”
“A strong point in her favour, my mother says, to make up for my puniness.” Anand was sensitive about his height. He said, in a touchy voice, daring one to sympathize with him. “Eugenically very sound. Strong, healtly girl like Janaki married to a weakling like me, and we have a chance of strong, healthy children that take after her. The children, you see, are the whole point of this stratagem. I’m an only son and must produce some. My mother has a rather simple approach to these things.”