Fortunately, standing won't be much of an issue for him, even if cooking does end up taking awhile; he's done far more strenuous things in far worse condition, though it would be for the best if he doesn't have to lift anything particularly heavy.

"Once he returns, that should be simple enough; all I'd need do is be clearly incompetent." Which shouldn't be too hard, and James does have no idea what he's doing, and so wouldn't even need to fake it. But as far as getting Francis to return from the cellar, James agrees an argument isn't the best idea, and knocking something over would probably also just worry Francis into thinking something dangerous or concerning had happened. But how can they lure him out of the cellar? And, actually, shouldn't he probably be back by now?

"Do you know what he went to find?" James has no idea what they might store down there, so perhaps Francis is having to search for whatever he'd gone to get but will likely be back soon. Or perhaps he's morbing about, and they really will have to do something to get his attention.