Mignonette

Good point, Alex Ces fought Ursula's husband for calling Vanozza a whore. They'd thrown down that challenge at Lu's wedding before Ursula asked Ces to liberate her. The fight was a matter of his mother's honour - he said so again right before the fight. It wasn't all about Ursula. When Ces saw the bruises on Ursula's face and she told him that her husband regularly beats her, it just added fuel to Ces' determination to kill the man.

Ces decided to kill Alf when he gabe the palace to Lu after her escape from Naples. He told Lu, "Never again!", when he kissed her in the carriage scene in front of all the men and Alf. He didn't just mean he wasn't going to let Lu be in danger again. He also meant he was never going to push her away again. Fearing for her life made him aware that he had to be with her, no matter what.

So he'd already decided to kill Alf before Lu told him she was tired of him. I think the only thing that truly surprised Ces about Lu's confession was that she wanted a baby by him. He was more than willing though, cause he told Alf to "rest his blade"

Ces wanted Lu and he wanted Naples for King Louis and Alf was in the way. The night he was getting drunk at Vanozza's, she told him a french presence in Naples would end Lu's marriage for good and that was when the idea of taking Naples and killing Alf started forming in Ces' mind. Lu's escaping Naples cemented it. The scene at Vanozza's house took place immediately after the fireworks scene and just before Ces waking up with Lu in his bed. This was the ONLY time we ever saw Ces drink too much. He was getting drunk cause he'd just spent time with Lu after being away in France and being forced to marry a woman he didn't love. Lu tells him she loves her husband and it pissed him off. When Vanozza tells Ces, "She loves this husband, Cesar, she chose him", Ces grunts and gets a look like he's smelled something bad He was REALLY tired of hearing that!