Frieda Harris lived with Sir Percy at Morton House, The Mall, Chiswick, a terraced 17th century townhouse in this stretch running alongside the river. Crowley spent a great deal of time here, having lunches and dinners as well as working on the tarot card project with Frieda. Early on in his visiting, one day after lunch, he walked to see nearby Chiswick House and park.
Crowley appreciated her work, despite his occasional belittling comments (“simply a talented amateur groping about with the obscure Bloomsbury schools”; “silly woman… pointless daubs”; “Lady Harris did not create anything. She executed the paintings from my designs and descriptions under my constant supervision”). Frieda herself took it seriously enough to exclude Crowley from the exhibitions as a liability.
Frieda's peculiar sense of humour was on show when she had several people round for lunch in July 1939, including Crowley and Gerald Hamilton. She served blackcurrant suet pudding and Hamilton ate sparingly, wanting to leave room for his main course (he was thinking the meal began with something sweet; something he had known in China). But no; that was all there was going to be, and Frieda christened her luncheon a gathering of the “Black Currant Pudding Brothers”, like an occult fraternity. The Masonic Fraters of the Most Holy and Thrice-Illuminated Black Currant Pudding, perhaps. Hamilton was a great bon viveur but largely dependent on his friends for food and other handouts, and he was not amused. Surprisingly, Crowley was: “A really great original meal & pleasant party”.