Chapter 9: Tender Blossom

Claudia Garibaldi, along with several guests, arrived at the Villa Agostino the day after my first meeting with Ferdinando Stanley.
A great bustle and flurry then ensued, with servants scurrying about, and boxes and travel trunks carried back and forth, and rooms allocated. It was some time before I managed a moment alone with Claudia.
I first made an abject apology for my words in Genoa, which she graciously accepted.

“Actually, Giovanni, your distaste when discovering the cargo my vessels carried reminded me of where I had heard the name ‘Metzendorf.”
She took me by the arm and drew me into a room along the corridor.

“Isabella,” she called out to a passing maid. “I shall be in my drawing room for the next half an hour. Please inform Guido I do not wish to be disturbed.”
The maid dropped a curtsey, and then sped off along the corridor to the entrance hall, where Guido the factotum, held sway.

Claudia sat on a chaise longue and patted the seat by her side. I sat where she indicated and waited for her to speak.

“It is well-known that many men prefer young women as sexual partners, rather than conjugate with older, more mature females. In fact, some men hunger after very young girls, not much more than children. I do not know why this is. Perhaps they relish the innocence and fragility of the young and wish to regress to their own childhood, or maybe they have been humiliated by mature women in the past, and do not wish to face further rejection or ridicule.”
She frowned, and continued. “However, there are also men who revel in abusing immature girls, using depravity to degrade and abase them, brutally imposing their will and lusts on young flesh.”
Claudia spent at least a minute staring at the down, lost in thought, and I wondered where this preamble was leading. Eventually she lifted her gaze from the floor, and completely changed tack of her monologue.

“Venezia maintains trade links with the Turks, but of course Austria does not. However, Austrians crave many of the commodities which come from the Ottoman Empire. A compromise was reached between Venezia and Austria, where any merchandise brought from Turks is shipped into Venezia by our vessels, and then off loaded onto Austrian vessels bound for Trieste.”

She gazed back down at the floor and spoke quietly, as if to herself.

“I had never seen the need to oversee the transhipment of goods from my vessels to Austrian ships, and it was only by chance that five years ago I was on the quayside and observed the transaction.”

She had tears in her eyes when she looked up at me.
“I watched as a half dozen young girls walked down the gangway from off my vessel, most of them no more than eleven years old. I asked whose children they were, thinking the Captain had allowed crew members bring their families on the voyage. I was horrified when told they were bound for a special brothel in Vienna. Believe me, Giovanni, I had no idea this trade was carried out by my ships. I immediately gathered the little girls up, and had them taken to my house in Venezia. I later found them homes as maids in the houses of friends. I ordered the captain to report to me, and explain why he was carrying slaves.”

‘We have been carrying such cargo for years, Signora. Herr Metzendorf puts in an order at least twice a year. It is all here on the bill of lading.’
He held the manifest in his hand.

I took the document from him and quickly skimmed down the page.

‘There is no mention of female slaves on this invoice.’

He pointed at an entry.
‘There it is Signora: Tender Blossom. Quantity 6’

Streams of tears coursed down Claudia’s cheeks.

“I swear by Almighty God I had no idea I had been instrumental in bringing scores of young girls and boys to a life of depravity in a brothel, or as the plaything of some raddled old degenerate. Metzendorf was a procurer, and his clients included some of the richest and most influential men in all of Europe. Not all the Tender Blossom shipped into Venezia was destined for Austria. Looking through cargo manifests over the previous ten years I saw practically every capital in Europe, including London, had consignments of young children delivered. Metzendorf had the exclusive contract to procure and import these young girls and boys.
‘Tender Blossom’ is the designation that alerts the ship’s captain transporting the children to ensure they are fed, watered, and allowed up on deck during the voyage. The girls, all virgins when purchased, have to be in pristine condition when delivered, otherwise Metzendorf would not receive the premium price he demands.”

Claudia let out a huge sigh.
“As soon as I discovered the truth I refused to ship any more of Metzendorf’s Tender Blossom. I do recall seeing that designation on manifests, but had taken it as a reference to opium, of which a great deal was imported from the Balkans. I gave Metzendorf the price he had paid for the cargo I liberated. As you can imagine he was furious at my action, for he would have made tenfold his outlay when delivered to his customers. His clientèle were equally enraged at being denied their perversions. I soon learned how wide and virulent was their anger. My ships swung idly at anchor in harbour as commissions dried up. The reach of these rich and depraved men seemed continent wide. I have only now rebuilt my business to what it was five years ago, before discovering the real meaning of Tender Blossom.”