It is my name, Excellency."
"Your name? Still I do not understand---"
"I have no other name but that--dei figli del Re--" said Ruggiero. "That
is all."
"How strange!" exclaimed Beatrice.
"It is the truth, Excellency, and to show you that it is the truth here
is my seaman's license."
He produced a little flat parchment case from his pocket, untied the
thong and showed Beatrice the first page on which, was inscribed his
name in full.
"Ruggiero of the Children of the King, son of the late Ruggiero, native
of Verbicaro, province of Calabria--you see, Excellency. It is the
truth."
"I never doubt anything you say, Ruggiero," said Beatrice quietly.
"I thank you, Excellency," answered the sailor, blushing this time with
pleasure. "For this and all your Excellency's kindness."
What a man he was she thought, as he stood there before her, bareheaded
in the sun-shot shade under the trees, the light playing upon his fair
hair and beard, and his blue eyes gleaming like drops from the sea! What
boys and dwarfs other men looked beside him!
"Do you know how your family came by that strange name, Ruggiero?" she
asked.
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