Sybil x Tom Romance Week, Day 2 “Historical Romance”–Regency
requested by @moira7
When Robert Crawley dies, not only does he leave behind a wife and daughters, but he also leaves them impoverished due to a bad business investment. Now the Crawley girls and their mother find themselves in the wilds of the North, far away from their beloved Downton. Here they must make adjustments, such as leaving in much smaller house and having only a cook, a maid, and one manservant.
Tom Branson longs to return to his beloved Ireland, and takes on the job as the Crawleys new “man of all trades” with hopes that the wages will be enough to finally leave service and go home. At first he finds the Crawley girls to be ungrateful and spoiled; many would be so lucky to have the luxuries they have, even if they seem minuscule to what they had before. However, despite his initial prejudice towards them, he can’t help but be drawn to the youngest daughter, whose love for books matches his own, and whose sad eyes seem to penetrate his soul...
Sybil Crawley knows that she and her sisters must all “marry well” in order to help satisfy her father’s debt collectors. And the handsome, wealthy Mr. Tom Bellasis certainly seems to favor her company, after singling her out at the last assembly ball. She would be a fool to refuse him, and could perhaps learn to love him...
...That is, if she weren’t already losing her heart to another Tom.
**images not mine; manip by @angiemagz