Spoilers ahead for Bridgerton. Love is bound to happen to her! With a shocking entrance to season 3, who Francesca Bridgerton will marry might surprise those who haven’t read the books. The new season focuses on her brother’s pursuit of Penelope Featherington, but it gives us viewers a taste of Francesca’s new love.
In the opening of season 3 of the hit Netflix series, Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) makes her debut into society and is finding a suitor. Queen Charlotte doesn’t find a diamond of the season, but Francesca focuses on John Stirling (Victor Alli), a quiet man she’s fond of playing piano with. Though he gives her a piece of sheet music signaling a quiet act of service to her, it hints at a greater love story that could be explored in future seasons.
But does she end up marrying John Stirling at the end of it all?
Who does Francesca Bridgerton marry?
Francesca Bridgerton does end up marrying John Stirling. However, in a sad turn of events, it’s short-lived. John suffers from an implied brain aneurysm and passes away—leaving Francesca as a widow.
Before he died, John and Francesca were very close to his cousin Michael. But as all things go drama-wise in the Bridgerton universe, Michael secretly has feelings for Francesca, but decides to let his feelings go for the sake of his cousin. When John dies, Michael inherits John’s earldom and feels overwhelming guilt. Francesca shares his grief with him, and finds out she’s pregnant with John’s child after many attempts. She ends up having a miscarriage and Michael feels overwhelmingly guilty for wishing to have his cousins’ life.
Michael runs away to India for two years while Francesca holds down the fort of the estate. He eventually moves back into the estate and Francesca is totally well off on her own, but she wants to have children and is seeking to remarry. All of a sudden, there’s some romantic tension between Michael and Francesca, and with internal conflict of loving her dead husband’s cousin, who she had a platonic relationship with.
Colin finds out that Michael is still in love with Francesca, and he pep-talks him into becoming one of her suitors. He proposes, and they marry. A bunch of feelings arise with the same conflicts arising, but in the end, Francesca realizes that John would want her to be happy. She ends up going to John’s grave to confess her feelings for his cousin and the two live happily ever after.
Fans of the book series have praised how Francesca and Michael’s love story is totally different from her siblings. “Francesca is smart, a bit sneaky, and a fun friend. Michael is also a great friend, seductive, and full of self-hate for reasons you’ll understand,” one Redditor wrote. Another noted the nuances of exploring love after death, “I especially love how Francesca and Michael’s story shows that one doesn’t just have “The One” and if you lose that you’d be grieving and unhappy forever, but instead shows that a person can have multiple great loves in their lifetime and how the love you found again can be just as deep as and does not negate the love that you lost.”
Bridgerton Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
