27

We must retrace our steps now, for I want to tell you of an amazing thing that happened shortly before the fall of Richmond—an incident that gives one a vivid picture of the domestic miseries that Lincoln endured in silence for almost a quarter of a century.

It happened near Grant's headquarters. The general had invited Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln to spend a week with him near the front.

They were glad to come, for the President was almost exhausted. He hadn't had a vacation since he entered the White House, and he was eager to get away from the throng of office-seekers who were harassing him once more at the opening of his second term.

So he and Mrs. Lincoln boarded the River Queen and sailed away down the Potomac, through the lower reaches of Chesapeake Bay, past old Point Comfort, and up the James River to City Point. There, high on a bluff, two hundred feet above the water, sat the ex-hide-buyer from Galena, smoking and whittling.

A few days later the President's party was joined by a distinguished group of people from Washington, including M. Geoffroi, the French minister. Naturally the visitors were eager to see the battle lines of the Army of the Potomac, twelve miles away; so the next day they set out upon the excursion—the men on horseback, Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Grant following in a half-open carriage.

General Adam Badeau, Grant's military secretary and aidede-camp and one of the closest friends General Grant ever had, was detailed to escort the ladies that day. He sat on the front seat of the carriage, facing them and with his back to the horses. He was an eye-witness to all that occurred, and I am quoting now from pages 356—362 of his book entitled “Grant in Peace:”

In the course of conversation, I chanced to mention that all the wives of officers at the army front had been ordered to the rear—a sure sign that active operations were in contemplation. I said not a lady had been allowed to remain, except Mrs. Griffin, the wife of General Charles Griffin, who had obtained a special permit from the President.

At this Mrs. Lincoln was up in arms. “What do you mean by that, sir?” she exclaimed. “Do you mean to say that she saw the President alone? Do you know that I never allow the President to see any woman alone?”

She was absolutely jealous of poor, ugly Abraham Lincoln.

I tried to pacify her and to palliate my remark, but she was fairly boiling over with rage. “That's a very equivocal smile, sir,” she exclaimed: “Let me out of this carriage at once. I will ask the President if he saw that woman alone.”

Mrs. Griffin, afterward the Countess Esterhazy, was one of the best known and most elegant women in Washington, a Carroll, and a personal acquaintance of Mrs. Grant, who strove to mollify the excited spouse, but all in vain. Mrs. Lincoln again bade me stop the driver, and when I hesitated to obey, she thrust her arms past me to the front of the carriage and held the driver fast. But Mrs. Grant finally prevailed upon her to wait till the whole party alighted....

At night, when we were back in camp, Mrs. Grant talked over the matter with me, and said the whole affair was so distressing and mortifying that neither of us must ever mention it; at least, I was to be absolutely silent, and she would disclose it only to the General. But the next day I was released from my pledge, for “worse remained behind.”

The same party went in the morning to visit the Army of the James on the north side of the river, commanded by General Ord. The arrangements were somewhat similar to those of the day before. We went up the river in a steamer, and then the men again took horses and Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Grant proceeded in an ambulance. I was detailed as before to act as escort, but I asked for a companion in the duty; for after my experience, I did not wish to be the only officer in the carriage. So Colonel Horace Porter was ordered to join the party. Mrs. Ord accompanied her husband; as she was the wife of the commander of an army she was not subject to the order for return; though before that day was over she wished herself in Washington or anywhere else away from the army, I am sure. She was mounted, and as the ambulance was full, she remained on her horse and rode for a while by the side of the President, and thus preceded Mrs. Lincoln.

As soon as Mrs. Lincoln discovered this her rage was beyond all bounds. “What does the woman mean,” she exclaimed, “by riding by the side of the President? and ahead of me? Does she suppose that he wants her by the side of him?”

She was in a frenzy of excitement, and language and action both became more extravagant every moment.

Mrs. Grant again endeavored to pacify her, but then Mrs. Lincoln got angry with Mrs. Grant; and all that Porter and I could do was to see that nothing worse than words occurred. We feared she might jump out of the vehicle and shout to the cavalcade.

Once she said to Mrs. Grant in her transports: “I suppose you think you'll get to the White House yourself, don't you?” Mrs. Grant was very calm and dignified, and merely replied that she was quite satisfied with her present position; it was far greater than she had ever expected to attain. But Mrs. Lincoln exclaimed; “Oh! you had better take it if you can get it. Tis very nice.” Then she reverted to Mrs. Ord, while Mrs. Grant defended her friend at the risk of arousing greater vehemence.

When there was a halt, Major Seward, a nephew of the Secretary of State, and an officer of General Ord's staff, rode up, and tried to say something jocular. “The President's horse is very gallant, Mrs. Lincoln,” he remarked; “he insists on riding by the side of Mrs. Ord.”

This of course added fuel to the flame.

“What do you mean by that, sir?” she cried.

Seward discovered that he had made a huge mistake, and his horse at once developed a peculiarity that compelled him to ride behind, to get out of the way of the storm.

Finally the party arrived at its destination and Mrs. Ord came up to the ambulance. Then Mrs. Lincoln positively insulted her, called her vile names in the presence of a crowd of officers, and asked what she meant by following up the President. The poor woman burst into tears and inquired what she had done, but Mrs. Lincoln refused to be appeased, and stormed till she was tired. Mrs. Grant still tried to stand by her friend, and everybody was shocked and horrified. But all things come to an end, and after a while we returned to City Point.

That night the President and Mrs. Lincoln entertained General and Mrs. Grant and the General's staff at dinner on the steamer, and before us all Mrs. Lincoln berated General Ord to the President, and urged that he should be removed. He was unfit for his place, she said, to say nothing of his wife. General Grant sat next and defended his officer bravely. Of course General Ord was not removed.

During all this visit similar scenes were occurring. Mrs. Lincoln repeatedly attacked her husband in the presence of officers because of Mrs. Griffin and Mrs. Ord, and I never suffered greater humiliation and pain on account of one not a near personal friend than when I saw the Head of the State, the man who carried all the cares of the nation at such a crisis—subjected to this inexpressible public mortification. He bore it as Christ might have done; with an expression of pain and sadness that cut one to the heart, but with supreme calmness and dignity. He called her “mother,” with his old-time plainness; he pleaded with eyes and tones, and endeavored to explain or palliate the offenses of others, till she turned on him like a tigress; and then he walked away, hiding that noble, ugly face that we might not catch the full expression of its misery.

General Sherman was a witness of some of these episodes and mentioned them in his memoirs many years ago.

Captain Barnes, of the navy, was a witness and a sufferer too. Barnes had accompanied Mrs. Ord on her unfortunate ride and refused afterward to say that the lady was to blame. Mrs. Lincoln never forgave him. A day or two afterward he went to speak to the President on some official matter when Mrs. Lincoln and several others were present. The President's wife said something to him unusually offensive that all the company could hear. Lincoln was silent, but after a moment he went up to the young officer, and taking him by the arm led him into his own cabin, to show him a map or a paper, he said. He made no remark, Barnes told me, upon what had occurred. He could not rebuke his wife; but he showed his regret, and his regard for the officer, with a touch of what seemed to me the most exquisite breeding imaginable.

Shortly before these occurrences Mrs. Stanton had visited City Point, and I chanced to ask her some question about the President's wife.

“I do not visit Mrs. Lincoln,” was the reply.

But I thought I must have been mistaken; the wife of the Secretary of War must visit the wife of the President; and I renewed my inquiry.

“Understand me, sir?” she repeated; “I do not go to the White House; I do not visit Mrs. Lincoln.” I was not at all intimate with Mrs. Stanton and this remark was so extraordinary that I never forgot it; but I understood it afterward.

Mrs. Lincoln continued her conduct toward Mrs. Grant, who strove to placate her and then Mrs. Lincoln became more outrageous still. She once rebuked Mrs. Grant for sitting in her presence. “How dare you be seated,” she said, “until I invite you?”

Elizabeth Keckley, who accompanied Mrs. Lincoln on this trip to Grant's headquarters, tells of a dinner party that “Mrs. President” gave aboard the River Queen.

One of the guests was a young officer attached to the Sanitary Commission. He was seated near Mrs. Lincoln, and, by way of pleasantry, remarked: “Mrs. Lincoln, you should have seen the President the other day, on his triumphal entry into Richmond. He was the cynosure of all eyes. The ladies kissed their hands to him, and greeted him with the waving of handkerchiefs. He is quite a hero when surrounded by pretty young ladies.”

The young officer suddenly paused with a look of embarrass-ment.

Mrs. Lincoln turned to him with flashing eyes, with the remark that his familiarity was offensive to her.

Quite a scene followed, and I do not think that the Captain who incurred Mrs. Lincoln's displeasure will ever forget that memorable evening.

“I never in my life saw a more peculiarly constituted woman,” says Mrs. Keckley. “Search the world over and you will not find her counterpart.”

“Ask the first American you meet, ‘What kind of a woman was Lincoln's wife?’” says Honoré Willsie Morrow in her book “Mary Todd Lincoln,” “and the chances are ninety nine to one hundred that he'll reply that she was a shrew, a curse to her husband, a vulgar fool, insane.”

The great tragedy of Lincoln's life was not his assassination, but his marriage.

When Booth fired, Lincoln did not know what had hit him, but for twenty-three years he had reaped almost daily what Herndon described as “the bitter harvest of conjugal infelicity.”

“Amid storms of party hate and rebellious strife,” says General Badeau, “amid agonies... like those of the Cross... the hyssop of domestic misery was pressed to Lincoln's lips, and he too said: ‘Father, forgive: they know not what they do.’”

One of Lincoln's warmest friends during his life as President was Orville H. Browning, Senator from Illinois. These two men had known each other for a quarter of a century, and Browning was frequently a dinner guest in the White House and sometimes spent the night there. He kept a detailed diary, but one can only wonder what he recorded in it about Mrs. Lincoln, for authors have not been permitted to read the manuscript without pledging their honor not to divulge anything derogatory to her character. This manuscript was recently sold for publication with the provision that all shocking statements regarding Mrs. Lincoln should be deleted before it was put into print.

At public receptions in the White House it had always been customary for the President to choose some lady other than his wife to lead the promenade with him.

But custom or no custom, tradition or no tradition, Mrs. Lincoln wouldn't tolerate it. What? Another woman ahead of her? And on the President's arm? Never!

So she had her way, and Washington society hooted.

She not only refused to let the President walk with another woman, but she eyed him jealously and criticized him severely for even talking to one.

Before going to a public reception Lincoln would come to his jealous wife, asking whom he might talk to. She would mention woman after woman, saying she detested this one and hated that one.

“But Mother,” he would remonstrate, “I must talk with somebody. I can't stand around like a simpleton and say nothing. If you will not tell me who I may talk with, please tell me who I may not talk with.”

She determined to have her own way, cost what it might, and, on one occasion, she threatened to throw herself down in the mud in front of every one unless Lincoln promoted a certain officer.

At another time she dashed into his office during an important interview, pouring out a torrent of words. Without replying to her, Lincoln calmly arose, picked her up, carried her out of the room, set her down, returned, locked the door, and went on with his business as if he had never been interrupted.

She consulted a spiritualist, who told her that all of Lincoln's Cabinet were his enemies.

That didn't surprise her. She had no love for any of them.

She despised Seward, calling him “a hypocrite,” “an abolition sneak,” saying that he couldn't be trusted, and warning Lincoln to have nothing to do with him.

“Her hostility to Chase,” says Mrs. Keckley, “was bitter.”

And one of the reasons was this: Chase had a daughter, Kate, who was married to a wealthy man and was one of the most beautiful and charming women in Washington society. Kate would attend the White House receptions; and, to Mrs. Lincoln's immense disgust, she would draw all the men about her and run away with the show.

Mrs. Keckley says that “Mrs. Lincoln, who was jealous of the popularity of others, had no desire to build up the social position of Chase's daughter through political favor to her father.”

With heat and temper, she repeatedly urged Lincoln to dismiss Chase from the Cabinet.

She loathed Stanton, and when he criticized her, she “would return the compliment by sending him books and clippings describing him as an irascible and disagreeable personality.”

To all these bitter condemnations, Lincoln would say:

“Mother, you are mistaken; your prejudices are so violent you do not stop to reason. If I listened to you, I should soon be without a cabinet.”

She disliked Andrew Johnson intensely; she hated McClellan; she despised Grant, calling him “an obstinate fool and a butcher,” declaring that she could handle an army better than he could, and frequently vowing that if he were ever made President, she would leave the country and never come back to it as long as he was in the White House.

“Well, Mother,” Lincoln would say, “supposing that we give you command of the army. No doubt you would do much better than any general that has been tried.”

After Lee surrendered, Mr. and Mrs. Grant came to Washington. The town was a blaze of light: crowds were making merry with songs and bonfires and revelry; so Mrs. Lincoln wrote the general, inviting him to drive about the streets with her and the President “to see the illumination.”

But she did not invite Mrs. Grant.

A few nights later, however, she arranged a theater party and invited Mr. and Mrs. Grant and Mr. and Mrs. Stanton to sit in the President's box.

As soon as Mrs. Stanton received the invitation, she hurried over to Mrs. Grant, to inquire if she were going.

“Unless you accept the invitation,” said Mrs. Stanton, “I shall refuse. I will not sit in the box with Mrs. Lincoln unless you are there too.”

Mrs. Grant was afraid to accept.

She knew that if the general entered the box, the audience would be sure to greet the “hero of Appomattox” with a salvo of applause.

And then what would Mrs. Lincoln do? There was no telling. She might create another disgraceful and mortifying scene.

Mrs. Grant refused the invitation, and so did Mrs. Stanton; and by refusing, they may have saved the lives of their husbands, for that night Booth crept into the President's box and shot Lincoln; and if Stanton and Grant had been there, he might have tried to kill them also.

27

我们现在必须回头看看，因为我想要和你们说一件发生在里士满被攻克之前的小事——这件事是一个生动的侧影，从中我们可以看出林肯默默地在二十多年的家庭生活中承受了怎样的痛苦。

事情发生在格兰特司令部附近。格兰特邀请林肯和林肯夫人前往前线附近休假一个星期。

林肯夫妇欣然应邀。自林肯入主白宫以来，还没有休过假，他早已累坏了，也渴望有机会逃离那些自他继任后接踵而来骚扰他的求职者。

因此他和林肯夫人一起登上了“河中女王号”，沿着波托马克河南下，穿过切萨皮克湾的低洼河段，经过老波因特康福特，再沿詹姆斯河至波因特市。在那里，那位来自格丽纳的皮货商正坐在离水面两百英尺高的悬崖上，一边抽烟一边砍木头。

几天后，一群来自华盛顿的上流人士加入了总统的度假行列，其中包括法国部长若弗鲁瓦。自然，访客们很想去十二英里外的波托马克大军的战线看看。于是第二天，一行人便启程了——男人们骑着马，林肯夫人和格兰特夫人则坐在一辆半敞篷的马车里。

亚当·巴多（Adam Badeau）将军是格兰特的军事秘书兼副官，同时也是格兰特将军的密友。那天他奉命陪护夫人们。他背对着马坐在马车前座，与夫人们面对着面，因此见证了那天发生的所有事。现在我将他在《和平时期的格兰特》一书中第三百五十六页至三百六十二页中的内容摘录如下：

在谈话的过程中我无意中提到前线所有军官的女眷都奉命转移到了后方——这意味着即将发起军事行动。我说，所有女眷都撤离了，除了查尔斯·格里芬（Charles Griffn）将军的夫人，因为总统特许她可以留在前线。

这时，林肯夫人变得十分恼火。“先生，你这么说是什么意思？”她大声地问道，“你的意思是不是说她曾和总统单独相处过？你是否知道我绝不允许总统和任何女性单独相处？”

很明显，她对可怜的、其貌不扬的亚伯拉罕·林肯有着强烈的妒忌心。

我试着为自己的话辩解，希望能安抚她的情绪。但是她愤怒得失去了控制。“先生，你的笑容让人猜不透。”她大喊道，“我要下车，亲自问总统是否单独和那个女人相处过。”

格里芬夫人是继艾斯特哈吉女伯爵之后华盛顿最知名也是最优雅的女性，是卡罗尔家族的人，也是格兰特夫人的密友。格兰特夫人努力地安抚激动的林肯夫人，但都无济于事。林肯夫人再次命令我让车夫停车。正当我犹豫时，她突然伸出手越过我，迅速抓住马车前面的车夫。幸好格兰特夫人说服她等大家都下马后再说。

当晚，待我们都回到营地后，格兰特夫人和我谈起了这件事。她说整件事实在是令人厌烦又窘迫，所以我们谁也不能再提。至少，我是肯定要保持沉默的，而她也只会告诉格兰特将军。但是第二天，我便不用再保守秘密了，因为“更糟糕的在后面呢”。

第二天一早，我们一行人便去詹姆士河北岸参观了奥德将军指挥的詹姆士大军。

当天的行程安排和前一天差不多。我们乘坐蒸汽船渡河，然后男人仍旧骑马，林肯夫人和格兰特夫人则乘坐一辆急救马车。我仍旧奉命陪护她们，但这次要求添一个伴。经过昨天的事后，我不愿意成为车厢内唯一一名军官。于是，霍勒斯·波特上校奉命加入了我们。奥德夫人陪着她的丈夫。她是指挥官的太太，不必遵守女眷撤离的命令。但我能确定，那天还没过完，她就一定无比希望自己身处华盛顿或者任何远离军队的地方。马车坐满了，她便骑马前行，并与总统并肩走了一段路，因此便走到林肯夫人前面去了。

林肯夫人一看到这个画面便无法抑制地发起怒来。“那个女人是什么意思？”她大声嚷道，“她骑在总统旁边是什么意思？她走到我前面是什么意思？她是不是想说，总统希望她在身边？”

她陷入了狂怒之中。她的言语和行动每过一秒都变得更加过分。

格兰特太太再次尝试安抚她，可是林肯夫人却又对着格兰特夫人发起火来。而波特和我能做的，就是确保她的愤怒只停留在言语层面。我们怕她会突然跳车，然后朝车队大喊。

林肯夫人气急了，她对格兰特夫人说：“我猜你一定觉得自己有一天可以住进白宫，对吧？”格兰特夫人庄重而冷静地回答她十分满意现在的位置，现在的一切已经超乎她的期待太多了。但是林肯夫人却说：“如果你有那样的机会，还是要争取一把。住进白宫可是很不错呢！”接着她又开始骂奥德夫人，而格兰特夫人则冒着引起更大风波的风险为朋友辩护。

正当这场风波平息之时，苏华德少校——国务卿苏华德的侄子，同时也是奥德将军手下的军官——骑马上前说了句玩笑话：“林肯夫人，总统先生的坐骑可真殷勤，总是在奥德太太旁溜达。”

这无疑是火上浇油。

“先生，你这么说是什么意思？”她大声问道。

苏华德少校这才发现自己犯了一个巨大的错误。这时他的马儿立刻展现出了自己的特技——往后倒退，迫使他远离风暴。

一行人终于到达了目的地。奥德夫人下马来到急救马车面前。接着林肯夫人开始辱骂她，当着众多军官的面骂她无耻，还问她一路跟着总统是什么意思。那位可怜的夫人一下子哭了起来，询问自己犯了什么错。但林肯夫人丝毫不让步，一直骂到她累了为止。格兰特夫人一直试图为自己的朋友辩护。所有人都又惊又恐。最后这场闹剧终于过去了，没过多久我们就到了波因特市。

那天晚上，总统先生和林肯夫人在蒸汽船上设宴答谢格兰特夫妇和将军手下的众多军官。当着我们所有人的面，林肯夫人向总统先生严厉指责奥德将军，还让总统先生将他撤职。她只说奥德将军不适合这个位子，丝毫不提他的夫人。坐在旁边的格兰特将军则公然维护自己的下属。当然，奥德将军并没有被撤职。

在这次参观访问期间，类似的场景出现了很多次。林肯夫人经常因为格里芬夫人和奥德夫人当着众多军官的面斥责她的丈夫。当我看到我们的国家元首，这个在如此艰难的时刻肩负起这个国家一切的男人向这无法言说的当众侮辱屈服的时候，我第一次为不是密友的人感到如此深切的委屈和心痛。他就像耶稣基督一样承受着这一切。他总是十分庄严而镇定，但他脸上那痛苦又悲伤的神情却像刀子般割裂着旁人的心。他老式地称呼她为“孩子他妈”，他的眼神和语气里满是哀求，他努力地向她解释，努力地阻止她对旁人的侵犯，可她却像只母老虎一样将怒气全部撒在他身上。每当这时他便会默默走开，藏起那张其貌不扬的高贵面孔，这样我们便看不到他脸上悲惨的神情。

谢尔曼将军也见证过类似的场景，在他多年前的回忆录里做了记录。

海军的巴恩斯上校既是见证人，也是受害者。奥德夫人那次骑马的时候，巴恩斯上校就陪在奥德夫人身旁。他拒绝指认奥德夫人有错，于是林肯夫人恨透了他。一两天后，巴恩斯上校找总统汇报公务，当时林肯夫人和其他几位军官都在场。总统夫人用所有人都能听到的声音对巴恩斯说了异常无礼的话。林肯沉默着。过了一会儿，他朝那位年轻的军官走去，拉着巴恩斯的手臂将他带到自己的房间，给他看了一张地图或是一份文件。巴恩斯告诉我，总统先生并没有评价刚才发生的事，他不能指责自己的妻子，但他却用在我看来最有教养的方式向自己手下的军官表达了懊悔和尊重。

这些事情发生前没多久，斯坦顿夫人去了波因特市。机缘巧合之下我问了她几个关于总统夫人的问题。

“我不拜访林肯夫人。”这便是她的回答。

我想我一定是听错了。战争部长夫人肯定会拜访总统夫人的。于是我又问了一遍。

“您不明白吗，先生？”她又说了一遍，“我不去白宫，也不拜访林肯夫人。”我和斯坦顿夫人并不熟悉，因此这番言论让我印象深刻。后来我便全都理解了。

林肯夫人继续对努力安抚自己的格兰特夫人恶语相向。后来林肯夫人变得更加粗暴。有一次她因为格兰特夫人在她面前坐着而对其大肆责难。“我没邀请你坐下之前你怎么敢坐下？”林肯夫人说道。

伊丽莎白·凯克利（Elizabeth Keckley）(7)是陪同总统夫人前往格兰特的指挥部的随行人员。她讲述了那次晚宴的情形，就好像“女总统”登上了“河中女王号”一样。

来宾之中有一位卫生委员会的年轻军官。他坐在林肯夫人旁边，为了活跃气氛，他开玩笑地说：“林肯夫人，您真该看看总统胜利进入里士满那天的风采。他是万众瞩目的焦点。女士们向他飞吻致意，挥动着手帕欢迎他的到来。他就像英雄一样，四周围满了年轻姑娘。”

突然，那位年轻的军官尴尬得不出声了。

林肯夫人双眼冒火地看着他。从她的眼神中可以知道，这位军官的亲切惹恼了她。

接下来的场景可想而知。我想这位惹怒了林肯夫人的军官永远也不会忘记那个难忘的夜晚。

“我从来没见过比林肯夫人更古怪的女人，”凯克利夫人说，“找遍全世界也找不出一个和她一样的人。”

“随便问一个你遇到的美国人，‘林肯的夫人是一个什么样的人？’”荷诺·威尔西·莫罗（Honoré Willsie Morrow）在她的《玛丽·托德·林肯》一书中写道，“百分之九十九的人会回答‘她是泼妇，是她丈夫的诅咒，是粗俗的傻瓜，也是疯子’。”

对于林肯来说，人生的悲剧不是遭遇暗杀，而是他的婚姻。

当布斯开枪的时候，林肯并不知道击中自己的是什么。但是二十三年来，他几乎每天都在收获赫恩登说的“不幸婚姻带来的恶果”。

“在暴风雨般的党派仇恨和反叛斗争中，”巴多将军说，“在经受十字架般的痛苦中，林肯却还要忍受不幸的婚姻生活带来的辛酸。而林肯却说：‘主啊，宽恕他们吧，他们不知道自己在做什么。’”

伊利诺伊州的参议员奥维尔·H.布朗宁（Orville H．Browning）是林肯执政期间的密友。两人相识已有二十五年。布朗宁经常去白宫吃晚饭，有时还会在白宫过夜。布朗宁有记日记的习惯，而且记录得十分详细。我们只能猜测他在日记中对林肯夫人进行了怎样的描述，因为凡是看过他日记的作家都必须以名誉担保不会泄露任何诋毁林肯夫人的言论。最近这本日记出版了，条件是出版物中必须删除所有关于林肯夫人可怕的描述。

在白宫的公开接待会上，依照传统，总统要选择一位除妻子以外的女士走在前面。

但是管他什么传统，林肯夫人是不会允许这样的事情发生的。让别的女人走在她前面？让别的女人挽着总统的手臂？想都别想。

她总是独断专行，华盛顿社交圈对此一片斥责声。

她不仅不允许总统和其他女士同行，甚至看到总统与其他女士说话，也会嫉妒得对着总统破口大骂。

在开公开接待会之前，林肯会事先询问自己那充满了嫉妒心的夫人，他可以和哪位女士说话。林肯夫人会提到很多女士，但不是不喜欢这个，就是讨厌那个。

“但是孩子他妈，”林肯抗议道，“我总归要和人说话的。我不可能像个傻子一样站在那里一言不发。你要是说不出我该和谁说话，那就告诉我不能和谁说话吧。”

她坚持按照自己的方式行事，不管付出什么代价。有一次，她威胁林肯如果不晋升某位官员，她就当着众人的面撒泼打滚。

还有一次，林肯在做一个重要访谈，她冲进他的办公室，说了一大通话。林肯没有回答，镇定地站起身，抓住她，将她带离了办公室，安排她坐下，然后回到办公室，锁上门继续做访谈，就好像从未被打扰过一样。

她咨询了一位巫师，巫师说内阁成员都是林肯的敌人。

她对此并不感到惊讶，因为她一点儿都不喜欢他们。

她看不起苏华德，说他是“伪君子”，是“一双被人丢弃的破鞋”，说他不值得信任，还警告林肯不要和他来往。

“她对蔡斯的仇恨，”凯克利夫人说，“更为强烈。”

她憎恨蔡斯的原因之一是，蔡斯有个女儿名叫凯特，是华盛顿社交圈最漂亮迷人的女士，她嫁给了一个有钱人。凯特有时会参加白宫接待会。让林肯夫人感到厌恶的是，只要凯特一出现，所有的男人都围着她团团转。

凯克利夫人说：“林肯夫人嫉妒那些受欢迎的女士，一点儿也不愿意凯特因为自己父亲的政治地位而在社交圈中扶摇直上。”

她总是带着满腔的怒气要求林肯免去蔡斯在内阁中的职位。

她也十分讨厌斯坦顿。每当听到斯坦顿批评自己，她便会“将那些说斯坦顿易怒又不易相处的书籍和简报寄给斯坦顿作为回礼”。

对于林肯夫人的种种咒骂和挖苦，林肯会说：

“孩子他妈，你误会了。你的偏见太主观了，根本没有道理可言。如果我听你的，我很快就没有内阁了。”

她非常讨厌安德鲁·约翰逊（Andrew Johnson），憎恨麦克莱伦。她看不起格兰特，说格兰特是“一个顽固的傻瓜和屠夫”，还说若是自己带领军队，肯定比格兰特强。她还经常发誓若格兰特成为总统，她就离开美国，只要格兰特在白宫一天，她就不会回国。

“孩子他妈，”林肯会这样说，“假设我们让你指挥军队，你肯定会比这些将军做得好。”

李投降后，格兰特夫妇来到了华盛顿。整个城市灯火辉煌，人们唱着歌，点燃篝火，尽情狂欢。林肯夫人给格兰特将军写信，邀请他与总统和自己一同驾车上街，“观赏那一片璀璨的灯火”。

但是她没有邀请格兰特夫人。

几天之后，她安排了一场聚会，邀请格兰特夫妇和斯坦顿夫妇前往剧院的总统包厢看戏。

斯坦顿夫人收到邀请后立刻找到了格兰特夫人，问她要不要去。

“除非你也接受邀请，”斯坦顿夫人说，“否则我是不会去的。我无法在没有你的情况下和林肯夫人共处一室。”

格兰特夫人不敢接受这份邀请。

她知道一旦格兰特将军跨入包厢，观众一定会以最热烈的掌声来欢迎这位“阿波马托克斯英雄”。

到时候林肯夫人会做出什么事呢？谁也说不准。她也许会再制造一个令人难以忘怀的难堪的场面。

格兰特夫人拒绝了林肯夫人的邀请，斯坦顿夫人也一样。正是因为她们的拒绝，她们的丈夫才保住了一命。因为那一晚，布斯爬进了总统包厢枪杀了林肯。如果斯坦顿和格兰特也在场，布斯也许会把他们也杀了。