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 17: Aftermath
It took a while for the household of St. Agnes and guests to calm enough for reasonable sense to be made, however, eventually that did occur. Mrs. Romanoff and Mrs. Triplett requested tea for Natasha and themselves. They were clearly unwilling to leave the slightly battered lady to herself, despite said lady's insistences. When the Dartford Magistrate arrived, a man by the name of Mr. Michael Peterson, he was careful to interview Daisy with care.
"…and then you informed him that you had no qualms shooting him if necessary as you had done so with a pirate in the past? And he believed that? I admit, you must be an excellent bluff to convince him of that," Mr. Peterson asked, uncertain of what to make of this oddity of a young lady.
"It wasn't a bluff, Mr. Peterson. I might have exaggerated a little, but it isn't a lie. There was a pirate attack on my ship as we returned to England and I did kill a man, it was just that I didn't do so intentionally. A few of the pirates had reached the area that my companion and myself had been brought to at the beginning of the engagement. Mr. Barnes, then the captain of the ship, had given my guards pistols to use to defend us if the pirates did reach us. My guards, who are Imperial guards, didn't know how to load or fire an English pistol so I was explaining the process to them when those exact pirates did reach us. Needless to say, in my surprise, I accidently fired the pistol and it hit one of the said pirates in the chest," Daisy elaborated for reference. "My guards then swiftly dispatched the others."
"Huh, well then. Miss Coulson, you must be one of the most well-equipped ladies when it comes to the predicament you faced. I am only sorry that you faced it," Mr. Peterson nodded to her before going over to Sir and Lady Coulson. "Is it possible to gain an interview with Miss Romanoff or is she indisposed at the moment?"
"I will go check," Melinda offered before exiting the room. At the same time, a footman was sent to check on Col. Ward to see if he had woken yet. A short while later, Natasha appeared followed by an annoyed Mrs. Triplett and a resigned Mrs. Romanoff. Lady Coulson returned to her seat and delicately sipped her tea as Mr. Peterson interviewed Natasha for her perspective. When he finished, a footman came to inform them that Col. Ward was awake.
The soft expression that all had seen of Mr. Peterson up until now turned immediately hard. It was clear that while he would treat victims with the utmost care, the same could not be said for those who were of a criminal inclination. In fact, when he had been informed of the details of why Col. Ward was in his current state, he had given Dr. Banner an approving nod, clearly feeling that the man was acting out of justified anger rather than criminal intent.
Dr. Banner, who had been relatively quiet since Natasha had been taken away by the matrons to be cared for, now stood and requested a few moments to speak with Natasha in private. Daisy glanced at her friend in concern before suggesting that a stroll in the gardens with Maj. Triplett and herself acting as distant chaperons would suffice. It was agreed upon with uncertainty and the four exited the house. Sir Phillip suspected that Daisy and Triplett had no intention of truthfully chaperoning Natasha and Dr. Banner, not if the expression of absolute adoration on Triplett's face was anything to guess by. However, given his romantic inclinations, Sir Phillip was the last person to object to some exchange of affection between betrothed so long as it didn't become overtly inappropriate.
Once in the gardens, Daisy redirected Trip along a completely different path than what Natasha and Dr. Banner. As soon as they reached a well concealed corner of the gardens, Trip pulled her in his arms and kissed her with an intensity the indicated his relief over her safety. When he finished, he pulled her tightly to him in an embrace and held her like that for a bit, simply allowing the tangible feel of her to relax the tension he had felt since being informed of her kidnapping.
Natasha and Dr. Banner had a very different encounter. Dr. Banner had sat Natasha down on a bench at stared at her with sorrow and fear in his eyes before speaking, "I know that, given the circumstances of what you witnessed today, your opinion of me might have changed. Few women would willingly enter a marriage after seeing so violent a display of temper. As such, if you wish to, I will completely understand if you wish to terminate our engagement. It isn't what I want but I would understand your reasoning if you choose to do so."
The man looked so heartbroken as he spoke that Natasha didn't know whether to slap him for even suggesting the idea or kiss him in reassurance immediately. After a moment, she stood and yanked him close and kissed him harshly despite the cut to her lip. Dr. Banner's reaction was immediate, his arms wrapping around her and embracing her tightly to him. He did pull back slightly as he tasted the metallic tang of blood. He examined her lip with concern that immediately made her laugh.
"You are the most ridiculous man ever; do you know that? I didn't spend over six months attempting to persuade you that marrying me would be the best idea possible only to throw you away because you reacted poorly to seeing me bruised by the violence of another man. It might have been one thing if you refused to look at me because of the bruising or called me ugly for it but instead you sought to punish the offender immediately and then tended to my wounds. Any woman foolish enough to let you go would be unworthy of you anyways," Natasha stated firmly. Dr. Banner's reaction to this was to blot her lip with a tender look in his eye and a soft smile on his lips.
"You should be warned though, with things happening as they did, papa will likely insist the wedding happening as soon as possible and purchasing a license, though that would have been necessary anyways, considering that neither of us are actually parishioners here," Natasha commented in a softer teasing tone. "I suspect that as soon as we return inside, he will drag you off with Sir Coulson's solicitor to work out a marriage settlement."
"Hmm…" Dr. Banner hummed before kissing the half of her lips that wasn't split before allowing his lips to travel along her cheek to her jaw and then to her neck, each kiss soft and feather light. Natasha found herself plastered against his body as he nuzzled her neck with lips and nose, both causing heat to course through her in pleasure. His lips then found their way to just below her ear to whisper. "You're presuming that I won't be more then eager to move our wedding to a sooner date."
Natasha shivered at the comment and repositioned him to kiss properly, even if it was much softer than before in care of the damage to her lip. Eventually, they parted enough to go and seek out their very un-chaperon like chaperons. It took them a while to find them, though, as Daisy and Trip had hidden themselves very well indeed this time. Once more they found the other couple in a rather less than appropriate embrace. A throat clearing on Dr. Banner's part was enough to get them to separate and earn Dr. Banner and Natasha looks of annoyance. However, as it was clear that no more time could pass without suspicions arising, they didn't comment on being interrupted. Doubtless, both couples took into consideration that they would likely marry quickly and so it would matter little the delay.
In point of fact, as soon as they entered the house, both men were summoned to the study that, while technically belonged to Daisy, had been commandeered by Sir Coulson and Mr. Romanoff for their negotiations. Natasha and Daisy refused to be left out of the process and joined them, promptly taking over the process, much to Sir Phillip's amusement, Ambassador Fang's fond annoyance, and Mr. Romanoff's relief. The process took less than two hours.
Neither Trip nor Dr. Banner felt like they were entirely worthy of their betrotheds and thus were willing to make allowances that most men would have balked at. Daisy and Natasha, in the end, would retain all rights to their inheritances and properties and would hold equal governing rights over their estates to that of their soon-to-husbands. It also helped the men to know that both women were more than capable of making sound choices and not inclined towards excessive frivolity and spending as many women of their class and age were.
When they finished, dinner was called and Mr. Peterson announced that he had managed to extract the knowledge from Col. Ward that the plan was arranged by General Garret and his wife's brother, a French man who was unfortunately well connected within Napoleon's regime. After dinner, Ambassador Fang went to write a letter to the Emperor immediately of all the events that had transpired and Mr. Peterson wrote letters to both the Lord Magistrate in London over the matter of treason and to the Magistrate of Weymouth to ensure that the constabulary there could arrest Gen. Garret, whose location was known from Col. Ward's confession. Both letters were sent by express due to the seriousness of the situation.
As it would happen, Col. Ward was only brave when in control of a situation. If he lacked control, he was impetuous and frequently cowardly. An appraisal of the Colonel's injuries was made by the local physician and it was declared that if done with care, Col. Ward would be able to be transported to London the next day, as the distance wasn't too far. He would be kept under guard until then by the household foot men and Imperial Guards.
There was also a small amount of debate over the wedding dates for the girls. With the kidnapping and the likely impending scandal, it was decided that the sooner the weddings the better. This would limit how much could be done but Natasha declared that while she had lost her favorite dress to the incident, she had plenty others that would serve well for the occasion. With this information, it was agreed that the ladies could finish the Chinese styled wedding dress for Daisy with the assistance of the local seamstress and effort in under a week.
With the wedding settlements signed, Ambassador Fang and Sir Phillip headed to London the next morning to ensure that Col. Ward wouldn't escape as he was brought to be presented to the Lord Magistrate for treason. Sir Coulson also intended to obtain Special Licenses while there. For most gaining an audience with the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury would be difficult but given the importance that Daisy's marriage held to the Realm meant that he gained easy access and obtained both Licenses with little fuss. At the same time, he put in the announcements of the engagements for Daisy and Natasha on Mr. Romanoff's behalf.
When Sir Coulson returned, it was to find that the women had all but locked the men out of the house during the day to ensure they didn't interfere with the process of finishing the dress within a few days' time. Lady Coulson seemed to have rallied the troops well. Daisy's maid, Xia, and her own maid were intensely invested in the process of making the dress properly. While the younger ladies divided the task of making the different portions of the wedding dress for Daisy or reworking a dress for Natasha. Lady Victoria drummed up the kitchen staff to ensure that the Wedding Breakfast would be suitable despite the short notice.
A total of four days passed between the kidnapping and the weddings. The weddings were held on the same day at the same time, mostly out of a desire to marry on the part of the young couples than any real necessity to marry with haste. The morning of the weddings, there was a mass scramble for rearranging rooms. As Daisy and Natasha dressed, all of Natasha's clothing was packed and removed from the Master Bedroom and transferred to the room assigned to Dr. Banner, meanwhile, all of Maj. Triplett's things were transferred to the Master Bedroom.
The ceremony itself was a bit odd since a Buddhist monk attended and preformed the Chinese ceremony for Daisy and Triplett before the local Vicar preformed the Christian ceremony for both couples. After the wedding, both couples signed the registers and then Daisy and Triplett also signed the treaty indicating that they had both entered the marriage of their own free will.
After the Wedding Breakfast guests split off to various activities. Daisy, and Trip as her new husband and new master of the estate, were forced to entertain their guests. Fortunately, as all but Daisy's uncle had all been there for at least a short duration, there was very little entertaining that needed being done and that was good for the couple in question vanished fairly quickly. Due to their married state, no one even bothered to attempt finding them though they did reappear, slightly flushed, for Dinner and the rest of the evening. As for Dr. and Mrs. Banner, they vanished from company for the entirety of that day and into the next. Trip's mother unsurprisingly tutted over the behavior, calling it indecorous but realized that Mrs. Banner couldn't care less what Daisy's Mother-in-law thought and neither did Daisy.
As for the fate of Col. Ward and Gen. Garret and their lot, Mr. Peterson's letter to the Magistrate of Weymouth managed to be in time to capture Gen. Garret, however, Mrs. Raina Garret and their son had already sailed to France and nothing more was known of them. Presumably she fell into the care of her French cousins.
Gen. Garret was tried and convicted of high treason. Due to his culpability in the kidnapping and the resulting death of an Imperial Guard, the Regent agreed to allow for his fate to be decided by the Chinese Emperor in an act of good will between the allied empires. As such, Gen. Garret was held in the Tower of London until the time that Ambassador Fang returned to China. His fall from grace was truly great. His amassed wealth was in part offered to Mr. and Mrs. Antoine Triplett and in part seized by the throne to purchase gifts to send to the Chinese Emperor. Ambassador Fang took care to ensure that Gen. Garret survived the trip from England to China and so, six months after Daisy and Trip married, Garret was publicly executed as an example just outside the Imperial City. The execution was unsurprisingly brutal, and the French Embassy swiftly vacated the country after it was performed.
Col. Ward, in exchange for testifying against Gen. Garret and due to his brother's desire to avoid too massive a scandal, had his sentence for execution passed over in favor of being sent to a penal colony in Australia. As before mentioned, when not in control of the situation, Col. Ward was a coward and thus, despite this small mercy, didn't survive long amongst the oft times violent prisoners on the ship during the trip and was buried at sea somewhere near the tip of Cape Horn, just off the southern coast of Africa.
Not long after the marriage of Daisy to Trip, Lady Coulson announced that she was with child, shocking a large part of society and making Jemma in particular feel odd about the situation. This would mean that their child would be born before his or her uncle or aunt. This did explain to Sir Coulson as to why his wife refrained from participating in Daisy's rescue however and when Daisy because pregnant quickly after the wedding, amused him greatly that both mother and daughter carried a child at the same time.
Eight months after their arrival in England, Lady Coulson gave birth to a son that made Sir Coulson grateful that he had more than a few estates. This was amplified by the detail that ten minutes after the birth of his second son, Lady Coulson provided him with a third, a shocking feat for such a small lady, so late in her life. Lady Peggy and Mrs. Stephanie Barnes also successfully gave their husbands sons while Mrs. Jemma Coulson gave her husband a daughter. Daisy gave birth to a healthy girl as well, that she named Rose. She prayed that her daughter would not be a pawn as she had in the politics of two empires and was grateful when suggestions on the matter never arose.
The End