".. miss Frazer, there is simply no place in society for someone like me," he points out.

It would sound self-deprecating in any other context, but Billy absolutely does not blame himself for that fact. He fully blames society. In fact, he doesn't even think he has to explain it to Chloe. Even if she's not from the same time as him, and even if apparently different sexualities are more accepted in future times, surely she'll understand it all the same.

Billy is incredibly risk-averse, after all. There's no way he would go on a polar expedition for that sake. No, it's just that it's the furthest he could get away from society.

"It was either this, or being forced to live a life that was not mine."