The Con is on in 'Hotel Portofino' Season 2's "Subterfuges"
Poor Rose! I know I haven’t been exactly sympathetic towards her in these Hotel Portofino recaps. But you would have to have a heart made of stone to not feel for Rose in “Subterfuges.” She dons a sexy negligee and begins to seduce Lucian and tries to ...how do you say this is a stuffy British way... satisfy him orally when he bursts out with, “What on earth do you think you are doing?” followed by, “Where are earth did you learn a thing like that?” Not good, not good at all. Rose knows that Lucian has eyes only for Constance. The pair get hot and heavy in the library like they are doctors in the early seasons of Grey’s Anatomy. “It was a moment of madness,” Constance tells him of their sleeping together. “It was the sanest thing I’ve ever done,” Lucian replies. Lucian tells Constance he can’t go back to how things were before but doesn’t really seem to have an exit strategy for his marriage.
Bella finally goes to see poor Henry. Can you believe that it is revealed that they haven’t seen each other in 12 (that’s right, 12!) years? A lovelorn Henry is so excited to see Bella, but she tells him that writing him those letters was more something she did for herself, that really she was talking to herself and working out her feelings and emotions. Bella gently tells him she doesn’t think they should write to each other anymore. Cecil followed Bella to her clandestine meeting with Henry and confronts him as he leaves. “She deserves better than you,” Henry says. Truer words have never been spoken. Honestly, at this point, I don’t understand the point of the Henry storyline.
However, Claudine and Bella are definitely up to something. Danioni turns down Bella’s request for the permit to build a solarium at the hotel, citing the law of “marital authorization.” Mussolini it seems, takes a “dim view of female emacipation.” Bella sees Cecil and Danioni conspiring, which is all the confirmation she needs that Cecil definitely doesn’t have her best interest at heart.
