In July 1933, during a run of short-term addresses, Crowley met Pearl Brooksmith, 34-year-old widow of an older naval officer, Captain Eldred Stuart Brooksmith, who had died in 1931. She drank heavily, as Crowley noticed, and not long after their meeting he wrote an imaginary epitaph:
She lived at number 40 Cumberland Terrace, just near the western edge of Regent's Park. He called to see her on 9 August, and before too long they began having sex: on the 15th he records Opus 1, “i.m.d.” (in manu dominae; in the hand of the mistress) and that it was “A.1”, a favourite Crowley expression. Next day Opus 2 took place, and on the 19th he moved in with her.
Further works were consecrated to ‘Success’, ‘Lust’ and ‘Love’, and it was business as usual with Opus 7: “Sell Magic to Selfridge at a good price”. Pearl was an intense sexual partner, and their bouts included shouting, screaming and clairvoyance on both sides, while Crowley's notes include “marvellous lust”.
It was Pearl who produced the memorable line “I feel the flame of fornication creeping up my body.”