Lincoln's Boys

[Susan Higginbotham]

In his biography of Robert Lincoln, Jason Emerson states that a biographer of John Hay named Dennett told the story of Robert Lincoln and John Hay studying Spanish on the afternoon of the assassination. Dennett doesn't mention Miss Hale as being present, and Emerson finds the story of RTL and Hay studying Spanish to be unlikely. Dennett's book is here (the studying-Spanish story, sans Lucy, is on p. 36):

https://archive.org/details/johnhayfrompoetr017987mbp

Emerson also writes that RTL "immediately, unequivocally, and publicly" denied the 1878 story that he was romantically involved with Lucy.