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Correspondence from Gerald Yorke to Aleister Crowley
5/1/32
Dear Crowley,
I have just seen Mr Edwards of Messrs Oppenheimer [attorneys] with regard to your proposed settlement of the Trust fund, and your suggestion that I should endeavour to act as mediator between yourself and your wife [Maria de Miramar] with a view to your obtaining a divorce. Mr Edwards is sending me the letter to the trustees which you sent him. On receipt I will get in touch with Dennes and Co with regard to the legality of the settlement you propose. Jones [George Cecil Jones] and I are both certain that it is outside our powers as trustees to touch the capital of the fund in any shape or form if this is so your suggestion is at once ruled out of court. However we will get Dennes to send your solicitors a ruling on the point.
Now as to my going down to see your wife. As you know she is in Colney Hatch. You want me if possible to get her to sign a letter in which she is to admit adultery. Now I cannot take advantage of a woman's insanity to persuade her to sign a paper which might be prejudicial to her own interests. In this view of course your solicitors concurred. Consequently I cannot advise her to sign away any legal claims she may have against you as her husband unless you make some form of settlement with her. Now I think that the one you propose is impossible legally. I shall know for certain in a few days. If this proves to be the case and as long as you are unable to make any settlement on her I do not think your chances of securing a divorce are very good. When I sounded Marie on the subject some months back she was willing to divorce you provided that you made some provision for her. But cash of a sort is sine qua non. Your solicitors will I understand suggest that you allocate to her the monthly sum which you now receive from the trustees. But unless some arrangement of this sort is devised I cannot advise Marie to have any thing to do with your present proposals for a divorce. I need hardly mention that the whole thing is extremely distasteful to me. However both you and Marie have asked me to act as a mediator, and I will endeavour to do so. But please understand that I cannot be party to any arrangement which deprives Marie of her present legal claims against you, without some properly devised compensation.
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