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When Mrs. Whitney took the stand, she was seen to be fingering several small prayer books. Because Mrs. Whitney is an Episcopalian and Mrs. Vanderbilt a Roman Catholic, the question of Gloria's religious training became a major point at issue. But so criss-crossed were the ties of family affection that Catholic Mrs. Morgan was reported to be praying before an improvised altar in her dressing room that her granddaughter might remain with Episcopalian Mrs. Whitney. Mrs. Whitney attempted to sidetrack the religious issue by declaring that if Gloria remained in her custody, she would be reared a Catholic, probably sent to a Catholic boarding school. Mrs. Vanderbilt promptly offered more personal care. She said she would send Gloria to study daytimes at a Catholic convent in The Bronx. "I want to place her with me," said the young mother, "and enjoy her after her study hours."
Justice Carew knew what Gloria herself wanted him to decide. Wide apart as were their worlds, he had had no trouble drawing the child out in their private heart-to-heart. He has raised three sons, two daughters of his own. A Columbia College and Law School graduate who still quotes Latin fluently, he worked up through the ranks, went to Congress in 1913, headed Tammany's delegation in the House for years. There he was a member of the potent Ways & Means Committee, a close crony of Nicholas Longworth and John Nance Garner. A devout Catholic and devoted family man, he spent every week-end in Manhattan in his brownstone house on East 68th Street near Third Avenue. His Congressional career ended in 1929 when Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to New York's Supreme Court.
In their three-hour chat Justice Carew found Gloria letter-perfect in both the Protestant "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" and Lord's Prayer and in the Catholic "Hail Mary." He also found that she decidedly wanted to stay with her Aunt Gertrude. It was not that she disliked her mother. But it had been no fun knocking around Europe with only an old nurse to play with. Her good times began at Old Westbury. She liked playing with her eight small cousins.* She liked her pony and dog. She liked going to Greenvale School every morning and told the Justice all about what she was studying. He concluded that she was a bright child.
In one of the toughest decisions of his career Justice Carew had no one to help him make up his mind because he alone had heard all the evidence with impartiality. But the doughty Justice felt equal to the task. When an East Side mother turned up with 300 signatures to "An Humble Appeal to Give This Mother to Her Child" he barked: "If she brings it to me I'll make her eat it with catsup."
First intimation of Justice Carew's decision bewildered everyone concerned. It consisted of a single sentence: "Mr. Justice Carew decided that the child, Gloria Vanderbilt, is not to have for the future the life that it had from the death of its father up till June, 1932."
Nagged by newshawks for details, Justice Carew slammed out of his chambers barking: "I never want to see you again." The newshawks were waiting for him when he returned next day. Roared he: "I am Justice Carew of the Supreme Court. Please clear out of this corridor."