This is a fan made story. I don't own the rights to SHIELD, any of its characters or any characters within the MCU… Much to my disappointment. This is a Regency Era based AU and I will be pulling characters from all over the MCU. Fair warning. Constructive criticism is welcome but if you don't like it simply because you don't like the line of thinking, please don't attack me for it.

Chapter 14: The Calm

The closing of the house in London was a simple affair. Most of the society they moved in was also going to their estates for the summer to avoid the heat of the city. Thus, they had no invitations to reject. As many of the Coulsons' closer acquaintances were going to Daisy's estate, they had fewer visits for taking leave to make. The biggest concern was ensuring that St. Agnes was prepared for the arrival of so many guests. Much of the house had fortunately been updated since their visit at Christmas.

Daisy could only be glad that she had organized the issues of staff during her previous visit. Still, the Coulsons and Natasha left for the estate earlier than others to ensure that all was in order for their guests' arrival. The Barnes and Wilson families had already departed when they left, Earl Carter had declined their invitation in favor of seeing to his own holdings and had already departed for them. Daisy and Natasha joked and teased about the oddity of their situation.

The estate belonged to Daisy so, by all rights she was in the mistress's chambers, as she had been for Christmas. This was peculiar though as, even though her brother acted as master of her household until she married, or at least their father returned, neither he nor his wife would sleep in the master suite as that would be improper. Thus, the largest bedroom would remain normally empty. However, due to the number of guests and the limited number of rooms, it was decided that Natasha, as the only other unwed young lady would stay in that room.

The other extremely unusual factor was that, as the hostess, Daisy would sit at the head of the table and her brother at the foot. Daisy decided that as they were all friends, the only dinning formalities that would be observed would be if they had neighbors to dine. This would be a necessity as this would be Daisy's neighborhood, especially if she were to marry Maj. Triplett who had no estate of his own.

Natasha helped her pack the last of her things. By this point, Leo had had most of the less fashionable jewelry from China redone to a more English fashion and much of her things had already been sent to St. Agnes already.

"There, all finished. All that is left will be done by Xia first thing in the morning. It seems a bit odd for me. This has been my home for most of my time in England since I returned. I felt so settled in, yet I know that by this time next year, I will likely be wed," Daisy stated.

"Mm… Well, I know that it is unlikely that I will be returning to stay here again at all. It was a fun season though, and an actual worthwhile one too. I suspect that Dr. Banner is only waiting to ask to marry me until he is finally introduced to my parents. I hope you don't mind if I insist on our marrying sooner rather than later, even if it means not spending the entire summer at St. Agnes?" Natasha smiled softly.

"Are you sure your parents won't insist on the wedding being held at St. Agnes to avoid the annoyance of hosting it themselves. All your friends are going to be there to arrange everything after all," Daisy teased.

"Hmm… you might have a point. Do you mind if we marry out of St. Agnes, then? Dartford has enough local shops for preparations for the wedding and Dr. Banner can procure a marriage license since it a home parish for either of us," Natasha took the tease seriously meaning that Daisy must too.

"I suppose. As, you said, all the important people would already be there," Daisy smiled before nodding. "So long as your family bares the expense, I have little reason to object."

"That is if it doesn't take Dr. Banner as long to propose as it did for him to ask for a courtship. The man moves as slow as a snail, I swear," Natasha joked. She left her friend to her bed after that.

The next morning, after breakfast, they were away. Daisy couldn't help but feel relieved that she lived so close to London as it meant a shorter trip. Half a day later, the immediate family plus Natasha were settling into St. Agnes. Leo and Daisy went through the household finances and reviewing the estate's needs while Jemma rested from the trip and Natasha plotted how to push the man she had determined on having into proposing to her.

Meanwhile, in the county of Surrey, General John Garret read a letter from his cousin. It was little known to most, but his mother was French and had once been well connected to those in Napoleon's government. His cousin was one such man and he had maintained the connection, though carefully so as to not put himself in a difficult position. This letter in particular had him a bit baffled. His cousin, one Ian Quinn, went on about how Napoleon wanted nothing more to force a more favorable trade agreement with China.

He had even mentioned a failed attempt to utilize pirates to capture the Chinese Emperor's nephew and great niece on their way to England to ransom them back with the trade agreement. Honestly, it seemed like an insane scheme that would only anger the Chinese Emperor, but he also saw an opportunity for a very lucrative venture, but only if he could get Ward on board with it. This would be treason and Ward was too close to the situation to miss what was happening as it occurred, not with a trip to Kent and then Weymouth necessary in the process.

There were a series of letters exchanged, negotiating the price of this possible venture and how it might go down, including the monetary amounts that would be involved. Raina was included and she expressed a desire to live in Spain if they did this. If that was her price, he would easily pay it, she did give him a son after all.

He had one of his servants fetch the younger officer and then order said servant to keep well away from his study until he rang for one of them. Ward looked a little baffled at being summoned by his mentor but took the seat when it was offered to him.

"What is spoken of here, stays here, regardless of the outcome," Garret started, making Ward a little on edge. The younger nodded his understanding despite this. "First things first. How much of your desires for the Coulson girl is an actual desire for her and how much is it about the desire for vengeance and her wealth at this point?"

Ward's eyebrows raised. They had tentatively discussed a kidnapping with a very swift trip to Gretna Green for a forced marriage, but it was still in the works, "At this point? Her humiliation and fortune are worth more than the actual marriage, to be honest. She is spirited and while it would be amusing to break that spirit, I find it difficult to believe that spirit could actually be broken. She is far more likely to spend her time making my life miserable. It almost isn't worth it at this point."

"What if I told you there was a way to go beyond humiliation to her, gain a tidy fortune in the process and never reap the troubles that could follow?" Garret smirked. If he got Ward to do the dirty work for him, he might not even need to put in much effort himself.

"And how would that be possible?" Ward asked cautiously.

"Depends on how loyal you are to jolly old England," Garret had to ensure that the boy wouldn't mind leaving afterwards or they might both hang for it.

"I think you realize by now how much all I resent about all that is English. Personally, I wouldn't mind trying my luck in the Americas or perhaps India if it was properly financed," Ward tendered, honest in his response. "Extra points if it drags my brother and his politics down in the process. I hate his progressive notions."

Garret chuckled, having heard exactly what he wanted to hear. He handed over his cousin's letter, "Well, it seems the French are exceedingly eager to persuade the Chinese Emperor into a trade deal with his precious great niece as a bartering chip. Of course, they need said niece to make it work, even if it likely won't. I really don't care what happens to the French when the Emperor learns they have the girl, though I image it will result in a great deal of blood spilling, I do care that there is a very tidy sum to be gotten if she is handed over to them though."

Ward read through the latest letter carefully before responding, "How much do you think can be gotten out of this?"

"If my cousin is as serious about this as I think he is? A hundred thousand pounds. I would make all the arrangements; all you would need to do is collect the girl and bring her to Weymouth. Raina and I will meet you there, we will all escort the girl across the channel where my cousin will meet us with the… commission if you will… and we go our separate ways," Garret's grin had grown.

"What about witnesses? There is the carriage driver, she always has those damned guards about and at least one friend as well. The same issues with the plans for eloping with her still apply," Ward pointed out, still not sold on the idea.

"The carriage driver is fairly easy to deal with. There are always the shady types who will do nearly anything for a quick fortune, and no one ever notices if one such man goes missing. The guards will have to die, but that isn't so big an issue as it would have been if you stayed in England after marrying her. With luck and good timing, enough of a head start will mean that they won't even be able to guess where she went, after all, most would presume that with a kidnapping and fortune involved one would head to Gretna Green, not Weymouth," Garret shrugged off the concerns. "I even have a man tracking her habits on her estate already. Sitwell, is more than happy to obtain funds dubiously so long as very little work is involved in the effort."

"And whichever friend is enviably with her?" Ward questioned but Garret could already see his cockiness was present and there was little concern where women were concerned.

Garret shrugged carelessly, "Don't really care. So long as it isn't the Marchioness, you may as well bring the lady along. If it is the Marchioness, just knock her unconscious or something inane. No need to bring undue trouble by making them want to pursue us beyond England. The lady would actually be useful because then no one can say we damaged the girl's virtue if there's a chaperon of sorts."

Ward nodded thoughtfully. After a pause where Garret waited with easy patience, Ward finally gave him the answer he desired, "When do we do this?"

Leo had everyone, the family, their multitude of guests and even a good portion of the staff, outside to watch the demonstration of his and Mackenzie's latest inventions, the revolving rifled pistol and revolving long bore rifle. It had taken longer than he would have liked but they had been forced to develop a new type of bullet to go with the weapons and those took a lot of experimenting to get just right.

"Alright, so it is all really simple. You just load one of these bullets into each of the circular chambers and then slide the chamber into place. Then you just point it at your target, pull the hammer back and shoot. Here, Daisy, you try the pistol, you're a far better shot than I am," Leo chuckled over it as he handed her the pistol.

Daisy eyed him before taking it and putting each bullet into place as he had explained and then slid the revolving chamber into place, "It is a lot heavier than a normal pistol." Daisy commented as she leveled the weapon and aimed. She knew that she was too far for an accurate shot with a normal pistol too, but these were supposed to work better at that too. The target was a paper with circled drawn on it secured to a tree, forty paces away.

She regulated her breathing and fired on the exhale as her father had taught her, for the purpose of hunting. Leo prompted her to keep firing until all the chambers were emptied. Skeptically, she did so. When all six chambers were empty, Daisy handed the pistol back to her brother and walked towards the tree in question. When she got close enough, she started laughing.

"What?!" Leo called out, confused by her reaction.

"I can't wait until Papa tries this! Come look! They are all in a small cluster near the center," Daisy called back.

Naturally, it was Maj. Triplett and Col. MacKenzie who ran over to examine it closer, followed by the rest of the men in the party. The women followed at a more sedate pace. The examination of the target on the tree did bring about the desired results for Leo though.

"Oh! Now I want one of those," Peggy looked at the pistol still in Leo's hand with absolute greed in her eye.

"I second that opinion," Natasha and Bucky stated in unison, much to the amusement of most present. After the first few weeks in their company, those who weren't aware of the unconventional practices of some of the ladies had long been made aware. A fill month into the house party, only Maj. Triplett's parents were still uncomfortable with the idea but even they kept quiet as they wouldn't dare offend nobility and if they couldn't complain about Peggy, all the ladies were safe.

Peggy and Stephanie had arrived with their husbands in tow only days before, much to Natasha and Daisy's delight. Once everyone had examined the first target, Daisy was then instructed to demonstrate the much larger and heavier revolving rifle. This weapon only managed five rounds, but they were much larger, and Daisy suspected, much more lethal.

There was a tremendous kick to the weapon each time she fired but when all the rounds were discharged, Daisy eagerly handed off the weapon and she and her friends led the group this time to examine the second target. To be fair, even at a distance, they could see the more obvious damage to the target due to the larger size of bullets.

"Oh, this would be wonderful for deer hunting," Stephanie remarked, as they walked toward the target.

"It is intended for the military, though I suppose it will grow popular quickly with the nobility and gentleman once word gets out," MacKenzie commented in response.

"Well, it would certainly be devastating to any Frenchman encountered. The British will praise your names far and wide once word gets out. I suspect you will be hard at work making more in no time," Peggy commented, looking closely at the tree that had severe splintering damage where it had held the target. "I fear this tree will have to go though. Completely destroyed it with those rounds. Mr. Coulson wasn't joking about you being an excellent markswomen, Daisy."

"Well I would hope so, she practically forced me to teach her to shoot starting at just age ten," A chuckling male voice sounded behind the group examining the target.

"Papa!" Daisy's excited shriek and break from the group startled all but Leo who was fast behind her. The others turned to see Daisy jump an older man in a most unladylike manner, the very Chinese woman beside him rolled her eyes. The man in question caught her though and spun her around. Daisy immediate switched to Chinese in her excitement which confused many present. "Papa! Mama! When did you arrive? Why didn't you send word as soon as your ship arrived? Why didn't you let us know more precisely when you were arriving?"

"Your father thought it would get a more amusing reaction if it was a surprise when we got here," Her mother responded as Sir Phillip Coulson set his only daughter down. "He was right. However, you really should have more manners, with how many guests you have present."

Daisy blushed lightly but brushed off the embarrassment as Leo hugged first his father and then step-mother, completely disregarding proper protocol for polite society, "Mama, don't be too harsh. Daisy has missed you both these past nine months. I have missed you all a bit longer than that."

"Hmm…" Was the only response Leo got from his stepmother, but he didn't take any offense. Lady Melinda Coulson never showed society any emotion beyond polite disinterest. "Well, regardless, you had best get introductions out of the way. Your father travels poorly, as you well know. He will need to rest soon if we don't want him keeling over."

"Right, of course," Leo switched to English as he recalled the mass of people who were present. He glanced at Daisy who recalled that she was actually the mistress of this estate and thus must introduce her parents to them all. She sighed.

"Marchioness Wilson, might I introduce my mother, Lady Coulson and my father, Sir Phillip Coulson," Daisy started with Peggy who had approached, clearly intending to make things simple. Since her husband followed, Daisy continued. "Mother, this is Marquis Wilson. Marquis Wilson this is my father, Sir Phillip Coulson."

"Daisy, dear, you are solely among friends, you can dispense with the formality," Peggy interrupted, quite rudely. "Besides, I doubt anyone is expecting much formality when they have been staying in the home of the daughter of the person you have been introduced to."

"Oh, thank heavens," Daisy sighed in relief. With this, everyone else came forward and Daisy decided on a simpler format than was exactly proper. "My friends, these are my parents, Sir Phillip Coulson and Lady Melinda Coulson. I trust you are capable of introducing yourselves."

Daisy's mother sighed in exasperation over her daughter acting against society expected, not because she wasn't capable of it but rather that she simply didn't enjoy the restraints of rules of English society. She pushed her mild irritation away though and focused on the ginger haired lady who had stepped up to Leo and linked her arm through his. She gave Leo an eyebrow.

"Father, Mother, this is Jemma, my wife," Leo stated, the eyebrow being all the prompting he needed.

Melinda didn't hesitate to eye the woman who stood before her. Although she wasn't the one to give birth to Leo, she still fully considered him her son in full, "Mrs. Coulson, I look forward to getting better acquainted with you." Her voice was as blank as possible, but Leo didn't let it phase him in the slightest. He merely smiled happily at the only mother he had ever known, and Jemma gave a weak smile in response as well. Melinda thought that perhaps the lady could use a little more backbone, but she wasn't rude.

"Thank you, Lady Coulson, I too hope to become be-better ac-acquainted with you," Jemma's fumbled Chinese was a good start to proving that the woman wasn't completely useless to her mother-in-law.

"You're attempting to learn Chinese? That will likely be of use in the future, keep at it," Melinda commented blandly earning an eyeroll from her husband. "Daisy, I think we need to get your father settled before he collapses. You know how terrible he is with all forms of travel."

Daisy nodded and excused herself from the mass of guests still standing on her front lawn to do as suggested in escorting her father to her parents' rooms. Her mother opted to stay and speak more with Leo and get further introductions to those present. When she took her father's arm, the man did begin to lean a bit on her, reminding her that her mother was right about her father's hatred of travel. Once they were out of earshot, Daisy spoke to him, "You didn't stop at all before coming here, did you? Did your ship dock this morning and you both just get a hired carriage here immediately? The timing would fit if you docked early."

"You know me too well. I figured if we got it out of the way all at once and I could rest here, it wouldn't be so terrible. Your mother wasn't too hard to persuade. She did miss you too," Phillip's voice was clearly tired, his accent half Chinese and half English.

"Well we had best get you down for a rest if you are going to be presentable for dinner," Daisy laughed and kissed him on the cheek. She led him up to the family wing and brought him to the suite that had been set aside for her parents. Daisy still found it a little odd that they wouldn't be in the Master suite but set those concerns aside.

He kissed her cheek before letting his valet, another man of Chinese nationality, lead him into the rooms and prepare him for a rest. Daisy had no doubt that her mother would soon follow. The two additional imperial guards that had accompanied her parents had stayed with her mother, not to her surprise in the slightest. As she went to return to her guests, Daisy felt a level of contentment that she long hadn't felt.