Why (not), Mary?

[RJNorton]

Donna, thank you for referencing Mary's mention of Booth in that letter to Sally Orne.

Toia, in a November 15, 1865, letter to Francis Carpenter, Mary wrote:

"In the evening his mind was fixed upon having some relaxation and bent on the theatre. Yet I firmly believe that, if he had remained, at the W. H. on that night of darkness, when the fiends prevailed, he would have been cut to pieces - Those fiends, had too long contemplated, this inhuman murder, to have allowed, him, to escape."

I don't know if I am comprehending that correctly, but to me it sounds like Mary was convinced Abraham would have been attacked in the White House that night had the couple not gone to the theater.