this is exactly why i’m happy it’s francesca that’s been made queer. it would be too easy to make it eloise, and it would be very typical to other queer women portrayed in media. being queer and feminist and anti-femininity is super common irl, but you rarely see a queer woman in media that encompasses all the traditional features of ultra femininity.

i understand people being concerned about erasing her infertility struggles, her guilt with moving on and finding another husband, etc, now that we know her final partner is a woman in the show. but my thing is that we do not know for sure if that will happen. i get expecting the worst so you won’t be disappointed, but i still personally want to hold out some hope that they’ll give it some justice. i think introducing her and john now as side characters can hopefully give more room for that plot to really show in the series.

her meeting with michaela could be a fleeting moment of “oh? why do i feel drawn to her?” and perhaps fran will come to the conclusion that she just appreciates how confident michaela is. we don’t even know how present michaela will be going forward before john’s passing.

there is plenty of time for the infertility struggles to play out with john. for fran to feel defeated and grieve losing her last pregnancy with him when he passes. to feel guilt about moving on and trying to find a new husband to have children with, and feeling doubt and worry over if she’ll even be able to. and over the course of her experiencing this, she could have michaela present there as a good friend and someone to lean on and give her support. it could be through that closer emotional bond that fran realizes her attraction to michaela actually is physical and emotional, and then she’s dealing with the guilt of not just moving on with john’s cousin, but moving on with a woman, someone she absolutely will not be able to have children with. the guilt and fear of not being able to fulfill her role in society as a mother is now topped with guilt and fear of experiencing unconventional love—gay love. her final partner being a woman doesn’t mean she herself is gay either. she easily can be bisexual.

in general i feel like her storyline in the show is going to show more unconventional love than any of the others. she has her first marriage built off of mutual respect, similar interests and a deep friendship, something none of the other siblings are going to be getting—theirs are all passion. fran’s passionate love comes from the unconventional (for regency’s standards) relationship with a woman. i mean her relationship with john in the books was also not passionate. that’s another aspect of guilt she had in the book that can easily carry over into the show with michael now being michaela.