Worst Seat in the House

[Jim Page]

. . . when Booth entered the second and fatal time, Rathbone arose and asked the intruder his business, Booth rushed past him without replying and shot the President.

First I've ever heard of this scenario, but it sounds plausible and could certainly explain why Rathbone seemed to have felt such a degree of guilt afterwards.

At the same time, I don't think Rathbone could be blamed for what occurred that night; I'm sure it all happened so quickly that a heroic response on his part would have been nothing short of a miracle.

Fascinating.