“Even without the corset, I think I’d hate it,” Billy replied before claiming that he looks silly in his dress and his bonnet feels stupid and that his shoes hurt his feet.
Alice suggested that he only feels that way because he’s not used to looking pretty, “…and new shoes always hurt at first.” she added. Billy confessed to never having worn new shoes before as almost everything he has (or had), has been handed down.
Everyone refers to him as a girl but they never say ‘she’ or ‘her’. Young Billy is used to hearing people say things like ‘he’s such a pretty girl‘, ‘he’s a delightful young lady‘ or ‘doesn’t he look lovely with his hair in ringlets & ribbons?‘ …that being the hairstyle his guardian prefers, probably because the overnight wet-set guarantees him a bad night’s sleep.
