‘It was a common arrangement among bachelors [to share beds], because beds were expensive,’ the author told the NY Post.

‘[What was strange] was the length of time [they shared the bed] — three years. And they got married late in life.’…

However, Carl Sandburg – Lincoln’s biographer – described his subject’s relationship with Speed as being tinged with a ‘streak of lavender’ in 1926, which is considered to be code for the fact the pair were involved romantically.

‘I’ve never come across a whisper of that nature,’ Bayard admitted. ‘[However] One of the things that did come up with Lincoln’s early biographers is that he wasn’t a player with the gals. Even his own stepmother, who adored him, said he was never much for girls.’