Note 49 — Chapter VII
Reading edition
According to Falckenskjold’s Memoirs and the Authentische Aufklärungen, the Queen nearly fainted after writing the first two syllables—“Caro—,” but Schack-Rathlou seized her hand, and, guiding it, added the remainder, “—line Matilda”. This story bears a remarkable resemblance to one related of Matilda’s ancestress, Mary Queen of Scots, when forced to sign her abdication in the castle of Lochleven. Unfortunately for the truth of it, the document which the Queen signed is still preserved in the royal archives of Copenhagen, and the signature shows no sign of a break.