Mon Jul 07 02:50:00 UTC 2025: Here’s a summary of the text and its rewrite as a news article:

**Summary:**

The episode focuses on Bertha Russell’s relentless pursuit of marrying her daughter Gladys to the Duke of Buckingham, despite the Duke’s fluctuating greed and Gladys’ potential unhappiness. Bertha strong-arms the Duke by manipulating another potential bride’s father. Meanwhile, Marian faces romantic complications with Larry, fueled by gossip. Ada asserts her independence within the household, challenging Agnes’s authority. Peggy navigates the complexities of race and class in Newport, encountering prejudice from Dr. Kirkland’s family. The episode ends with Gladys’s engagement announced, symbolized by a broken pearl choker foreshadowing potential marital unhappiness.

**News Article:**

**”The Gilded Age” Recap: Russells Tighten Grip on Society, But Cracks Emerge**

**New York, NY** – The relentless social climbing of Bertha Russell continues unabated in the latest episode of “The Gilded Age,” but beneath the opulent facade, cracks are beginning to show. Mrs. Russell has successfully strong-armed the Duke of Buckingham into an engagement with her daughter Gladys, manipulating societal currents and the financial anxieties of potential rivals to secure the match. The pursuit of the Duke was fraught with tension. After George Russell’s initial marriage settlement to the Duke, Bertha implied there would be “A Lot of It”. Disappointed that he was only receiving immense riches and not fantastically immense riches, he walked out! George Russell stepped in and offered the Duke money with the caveat that Gladys would have an income of her own. The Duke agreed to the marriage settlement when Bertha agreed that he could take Gladys’s allowance. The engagement was announced at a portrait unveiling, with Gladys anxiously fidgeting with a pearl choker that breaks, foreshadowing the challenges ahead.

Meanwhile, romantic entanglements threaten to disrupt the established order. Marian Brook, caught in a compromising position with Larry Russell, faces the scrutiny of Bertha’s household and must decide between propriety and her affections.

In the Van Rhijn household, a power struggle simmers between Agnes and Ada, now the benefactor of the household. Agnes’s name was left off a charity list paid for by Ada, furthering the feeling of a change of power. Agnes is left furious and goes off on a verbal flight of fancy, saying she will have to live in Newport with society’s castoffs and women of ill repute. Ada’s cook is also introducing her to a medium soon.

Peggy Scott’s storyline continues in Newport, where she grapples with colorism within Dr. William Kirkland’s affluent family. Despite his affection for Peggy, his parents’ condescending behavior highlights the racial barriers she faces, even within the Black elite.

The episode leaves viewers wondering if Gladys will find happiness in a marriage orchestrated by her ambitious mother, and whether the cracks in the Russell’s gilded facade will widen.

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