The steady disintegration of Jack and Janet's marriage had a profound effect on their children. Black Jack's affairs were a source of constant humiliation for Janet, who frequently took out her frustrations on Jackie and Lee. She was constantly critical of them and frequently lashed out physically. Several relatives witnessed her slapping Jackie in an irrational rage. Hot-headed in the best of times, Janet was pushed to the limit by her husband and felt betrayed by her children. She was sharply aware that the girls favored their father over her. Janet particularly resented Jackie's emotional distance and her continued adoration of Black Jack when it was his womanizing that was destroying the marriage. Even so, he could do no wrong in Jackie's eyes.

Living Large

Money remained a huge issue. Jack continued to live beyond his means, so he was chronically in debt. Janet was angry that there wasn't enough money for a larger staff to help her run the apartment. Jim Lee used Jack's misfortune to try to rein his son-in-law in. In 1932, Jim let Jack and Janet move into his apartment building at 740 Park Avenue, a gorgeous eleven-room duplex, and live there rent-free. In exchange, he expected Jack to cut his expenses and be more responsible. Jack was deeply resentful that Janet's father would interfere in his marriage and personal life, and it deepened the rift between them.

After M. C.'s death in 1935, Jack inherited his uncle's clients. He opened a brokerage company and over the following year earned $35,000 — but racked up more than $40,000 in expenses. M. C.'s estate pressured Jack to repay the $25,000 loan he had borrowed in 1930, and he was deeply in arrears with the IRS.

Acting Out

The family was slowly imploding, and Jack and Janet's constant arguing had a deep effect on Jackie. Outwardly, she was angry at their constant arguing, but inwardly she was afraid to lose her family and felt helpless to stop it. Jackie started acting out, throwing temper tantrums when she was angry or couldn't get her way.

One family maid recalled the time Black Jack would not allow Jackie to go to a movie with several of her ten-year-old friends unless an adult went with them. She threw such a tantrum Jack eventually gave in. Her temper would explode over the smallest incidents, from having to wait to use the tennis court to not having a towel waiting for her when she finished swimming. But her usual way of dealing with the slow disintegration of her parents' marriage and their mutual bitterness was to tune them out and escape into literature and horse riding.

Separation

In September 1936, Janet finally asked for a trial separation. Jack moved into a nearby hotel while she continued living at the apartment with their daughters. They reconciled the following summer but it would be the family's last summer in East Hampton together. When they returned to New York, they separated again, this time for good.

For the 1938 season, Janet rented a house forty miles outside of East Hampton, wanting to keep as much distance from Jack — and the gossiping neighbors — as possible. Jackie and Lee spent August with their father at Lasata, but it was no longer the happy home it used to be. Not only was Jack and Janet's marriage ending, but also the Major and Maude were going through their own drama. They had been quietly living separately for years, but that summer, Maude found out that Grampy Jack had fallen in love with another woman. When Maude died less than two years later, Big Edie claimed it was from a broken heart.

Divorce

On January 26, 1940, the New York Daily Mirror ran an article titled, “Society Broker Sued for Divorce.” Included were details of Jack's infidelities, including pictures of his mistresses and even dates of their rendezvous. Newspapers across the country picked up the story, publicly trumpeting the private details of a destroyed marriage. It's believed Janet's lawyer had leaked the information to embarrass Jack. It also humiliated Jackie and instilled a dislike for and distrust of the media that would last a lifetime. Deeply pained by the barbs, insults, and accusations her parents hurled at one another, she became reserved and withdrawn at school — which was often mistaken for aloofness.

Jack, who did not want a divorce, turned the tables and accused Janet of being an unfit, abusive mother. Fearing loss of custody, she dropped the divorce. Janet took her daughters to Nevada and stayed six weeks — long enough to establish residency. In July 1940, she went to a Nevada court and filed for divorce there, claiming irreconcilable differences. The judge granted the divorce. Black Jack was officially no longer a part of Jackie's daily life. The resentment the young girl felt toward her mother would never completely go away.