Here’s Exactly What To Expect From Francesca’s ‘Bridgerton’ Season (Based On The Book ‘When He Was Wicked’)

Francesca may have married in season 3 of ‘Bridgerton,’ but her love story is far from over. In fact, we’ve known since soon after her own wedding that there would be complications coming up for her—specifically in regards to her feelings for her husband John’s cousin, Michaela Stirling.

But Francesca’s story took a huge turn in the second part of season 4, when John unexpectedly passed away. Of course, book readers knew this was coming—after all, Francesca’s story can’t be told until she’s a widow. Because her book, “When He Was Wicked” by Julia Quinn, takes place four years after John’s death.

So here’s what we can expect from Francesca’s love story, based on the book “When He Was Wicked” by Julia Quinn.

First Things First: We’re Getting A Gender-Bent Michael Sterling

In the book, John’s cousin is a man named Michael, but clearly the show has taken its artistic liberties with Michaela’s character. Because of this, there are likely to be changes that will change the trajectory of their love story. For instance, there’s likely to be a larger conversation about queer relationships, especially during the Regency era. Another change that is likely to happen: In the book, Michael inherits John’s title, but that’s unlikely to happen with Michaela, since she’s a woman.

Francesca Decides To Remarry

In the book, Francesca decides to remarry due to her want to have a child. However, there’s a decent change this will be changed, given the fact that Francesca is clearly attracted to women. That being said, she may still choose to ignore these feelings and go back into the marriage mart.

Francesca and Michaela Reunite In London

If the show goes the way of the book, it’s likely that Francesca and Michaela will spend some time apart, due in part to their growing feelings for one another. And when I say “time,” I mean literal years.

That being said, they’ll run into one another again in the Kilmartin House when Michaela finally decides to return to London, unaware that Francesca will be staying there. Francesca will admit that she hasn’t responded to any of Michaela’s letters because she’s angry that Michaela left her.

Francesca Might Try To Convince Michaela To Join The Marriage Mart

In the book, while Francesca is eager to join the marriage mart, she also encourages Michael to do the same. It’s likely that they’ll have this play out similarly with Michaela, though Michaela may make it known that she has no interest in marrying a man.

Francesca Will Nurse Michaela Back To Health

In the book, when Michael fails to show up to a dinner with the Bridgertons, Francesca seeks him out and finds him ill at the Kilmartin House, where he finally admits to her that he has malaria, but that he’s not dying. It’s likely Michaela’s character might go through the same story arc, especially if they do have her travel to stay away from Francesca.

Michaela Grows Jealous Of Other People’s Romantic Attention Toward Francesca

In the book, Michael grows agitated to see how many other men are interested in courting Francesca, especially because while he’s aware that he’s in love with her, he doesn’t feel like he can be with her. He believes his feelings for Francesca are a betrayal to John.

In the book, Michael fights with other men who he believes have bad intentions with Francesca (something I could see them possibly keeping with Michaela) until Colin eventually tells him that he should just marry Francesca himself. While I don’t think Colin will give the same advice to Michaela, I do wonder if he’ll see Michaela’s feelings for what they are before everyone else.

Michaela Will Save Francesca From Unwanted Advances

When one suitor takes it too far and starts making unwanted advances toward Francesca, Michaela will likely come in to save the day, the way Michael does in the book. This will allow Francesca to see the side of Michaela that’s protective of her—and Michaela will likely admit that the reason she knew where Francesca was was because she’s always watching her.

Francesca Will Accuse Michaela Of Believing She’s Betraying John By Wanting To Remarry

In the book, Francesca believes that the tension between her and Michael is due to the fact that Francesca is planning to remarry. She thinks Michael considers it betraying John, and she eventually confronts Michael about this. In the heat of the moment, Michael kisses her for the first time; Francesca, scared by her feelings, chooses to go to Scotland to get far away from him.

Michaela Will Decide She Wants To Be With Francesca—And Will Put It All On The Line

In the book, after Francesca leaves, Michael is down on himself, but eventually finds his resolve: He’s going to convince Francesca to marry him, no matter what it takes. He shows up at the house in Scotland, where Francesca has been hiding. He asks to talk about the kiss and proposes to her, and shocked, Francesca asks if she can think about it. She says the kiss was a mistake, but Michael decides to seduce her anyway, and ultimately they end up sleeping together for the first time.

While it’s unclear if Michaela would propose to Francesca at this point, I DO think it’s likely that Michaela will decide she wants to be with Francesca before Francesca decides the same thing, and that she’ll go after what she wants.

Francesca Will Try To Run Away In The Rain, But Michaela Will Bring Her Back

In the book, Francesca is so overwhelmed by what happens between her and Michael that she leaves the house, refusing to come back even when it starts to rain. Michael goes out to find her and brings her home, telling her he won’t leave her standing out in the rain. However, they realize they won’t make it all the way back to the house, so they stop at the gardener’s cottage. They have to strip out of their wet clothes, much to Francesca’s embarrassment. Francesca feels uncomfortable around him, but he does tell her he won’t seduce her; that being said, he ends up asking her to kiss him, which she gives in to. They end up sleeping together again, but this time Francesca is the one who seduced Michael.

Francesca Is Still Uncertain About Being With Michaela, So Michaela Will Properly Court Her

In the book, when Francesca shoots down Michael’s proposal again, Michael decides that they deserve to be happy, and chooses to court Francesca properly. Eventually, Michael admits that he’s always been in love with Francesca, and that she’ll have to be the one to leave him if she doesn’t want the relationship, because he’s unable to leave her. And just like that, Francesca decides to run out.

Francesca Decides She’s Done Running From Michaela

Ultimately, Francesca decides she’s done running from Michael and returns to him, accepting his proposal. Not long after they get engaged, while spending the day together, they decide to spontaneously get married that day, as neither cares to have a lavish wedding.

Michaela Will Get Sick—Again

In the book, soon after their wedding, Michael gets sick again, and Francesca is worried its the malaria. She’s convinced Michael will die and that she’ll lose another person. When she eventually realizes it’s not malaria, she’s relieved but overcome with emotion and has to leave him. Michael realizes she’s visiting John’s grave, so he goes after her.

At John’s grave, she finally admits that she’s in love with Michael, and all of her bottled up emotions come flooding out. Michael finds her like this, and they finally declare their love for one another.

Ultimately, it’s unclear how much of this storyline the showrunner and writers will follow, especially since Francesca and Michaela’s sexualities will probably play a large role in the storyline, as well as the fact that they are both women in society with certain expectations. That being said, they’ll likely use the book as a loose outline for the season—so while we probably won’t see it play out beat-by-beat, we’re still likely to see a good amount of these events happen throughout Francesca’s story.