We have a premiere date: June 22, just as And Just Like That is heading towards its end, and the trailer confirms our worst fears, if you’re on team Larrian: Bertha wants to arrange marriages for her two children to wealthy and well-off people. And the message is clear: In the New World, Love Can Conquer you All or Cost You Everything. Here’s the third Season of The Gilded Age for us.

In other words, it is about arranged romances, genuine, forbidden and approved, putting everyone to the test.

We open with images of the Russells’ Newport home and lavish dinners, with Bertha saying in voiceover: “Happiness is the byproduct of a well-ordered life; our children will be among the highest-ranking people on Earth.”

This is not good for those who root for Larrian because Marian is not rich, even if she does come from a traditional family. Bertha doesn’t just want a status surname; she wants a position, too.

“Well, when you set your mind to something, no one can stop you,” George replies, without necessarily agreeing.

“I take that as a compliment,” she insists.

Knowing that George promised Gladys that she could marry for love, if the candidate is a serious and decent man, this creates a rift in the couple because Bertha even thinks that her daughter could fall in love with the Duke of Buckingham, but she doesn’t care if Gladys doesn’t like him: the marriage will happen.

“Marriage is a real opportunity,” we hear Bertha saying to Gladys, who seems unhappy.

“You can influence politics” [images of George at a meeting]

“Shape events” [images of Ada at a suffragette meeting and Agnes looking disdainful]

“You can have powerful and interesting lives” [images of Larry helping John Trotter, the Van Rhjin page boy at a tailor’s with a new suit]

“What more is there?” Agnes asks over an image of Larry and Marian living their secret romance, as well as Peggy and her new love interest.

“Some people want to marry for love,” Marian says, and we see her and Larry holding hands under the table, gazing at each other at a fancy dinner. “I know I do,” she dreams, and warns with an image of her and Larry kissing in a scene that pays homage to The Age of Innocence.

“I don’t understand,” Agnes retorts.

“Which bit is not clear?” Aurora Fane asks.

“None of it is clear,” Agnes insists.

We then see a dramatic clip that ends with Bertha looking at George walking up the stairs and looking distressed, Marian holding back tears, and Ada saying, “I hope there’s no divorce.”

Gladys deliberately breaks her pearl necklace.

“Nothing is as it should be,” Agnes complains.

While we see Caroline Astor walking nervously, George is upset by what he reads in the newspaper.

“Your mother is being dramatic,” Ada sneers, and Oscar is sarcastic: “Mommy? That’s not like her,” he says, looking at Agnes, who responds with a smile.

What the spoilers confirm

Let’s see what the images “confirm” and what the trailer would have us believe.

Marian and Larry
Larrian is the theme of the season and our dear Larry and Marian are in love, but no one seems to know about the two dating. As mentioned, there will be more obstacles than acceptance. Bertha likes Marian, but she’s not even close to the ideal candidate for her son, and Agnes is horrified by the Russells’ new fortune.

Peggy
Peggy doesn’t seem thrilled about her summer romance in Newport with a handsome, successful black doctor. What’s the problem? The trailer doesn’t say, but it has to do with her having to choose between her career and marriage.

Agnes and Ada
The trailer doesn’t show how Oscar will try to recover what he lost from the Van Rijn fortune, but the line that “nothing is as it should be” has to do with Ada taking over the reins of the house, getting involved in the issue of women’s suffrage and leaving Agnes without being able to dictate to others.

The Divorce
Bertha and George will have new marital problems, no doubt, but the divorce here is from Caroline Astor’s daughter, Charlotte, who returns to New York after a scandal in Europe. This is a real fact, while Bertha and George, even if inspired by the Vanderbilts who divorced, may have another way out in the series.

We don’t yet see Hannah Shealy who will play Charlotte, but we see Caroline with an apprehensive look, we see Aurora reporting something scandalous that Agnes refuses to believe and Ada saying the word that scares them and that begins with D: divorce. Furthermore, we hear Marian defending Charlotte about wanting to marry for love – something she dreams of for herself – but that was almost impossible at that time.

To make us tense, we see Bertha and George fighting, but I assure you that their marriage is not shaken to that point yet.

Gladys
Gladys was in love with another man at the end of the second season and will not like being forced to marry another, and her breaking her pearl necklace on the stairs of her New York home – deliberately – shows that she will oppose her mother. For how long? We don’t know… Since she is inspired by Consuelo, who did get married, it won’t be for long.