But she tried. She had even gotten a scholarship from Vassar, and her parents, who thought of themselves as progressives, decided to humor her and allow her to go.
Oh sure, she had a bit of a rebellious nature. What girl didn't in that day and age? Her parents didn't know that, in addition to practicing her 'proper' music, sometimes - when no one was around - she would sneak into the church basement and play all that new-fangled music that good girls shouldn't play, that she had picked up by listening to piano rolls she had found. Joplin. Jelly Roll Morton. James P. Johnson. Fats Waller.
But, all in all, she was a good girl.
Billie was not the type that good girls fell in love with, and what a scandal it would cause in Schenectady! Her parents found out, forbade her to ever see or even mention Billie again, and grounded her. All plans for Vassar were canceled. Her father went to the priest, asking for prayer for the demon inside of her, and her mother turned her face away from her in shame.
They then went about looking for a proper husband for her. Perhaps that DiDonato boy from church, or the grocer's son who was studying to be a doctor - what was his name again?
But love at that age is not easily quashed and, for all her shy and quiet nature, Louisa had a strength and a stubborness inside of her. When Billie moved back to Boston the day after Christmas, 1924, Louisa went as well, running away from a cold home, cold parents, and an endless parade of drab suitors.