 Though nominally an independent country, Egypt had been effectively under British control since the late nineteenth century. With the outbreak of war, and under the terms of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, the country was under virtual occupation by the British. At this stage in the war, the Germans were advancing apparently unstoppably across the desert towards Egypt, and Cairo was rife with rumours and alarms. Manning was jittery and fearful. She was constantly anxious about illness, and was indeed frequently unwell. Concerned, Reggie suggested that it might be best if she returned to England, but she retorted "Wherever we go, we go together. If we return home, we both go. I won 't have the war separating us. End of story." Her father had made her a firm believer in the British Empire and the benefits it had brought the world, and Manning was a patriotic Briton, confident of ultimate Allied success. In Egypt, however, she confronted the fact that British occupation had never been popular. Reggie quickly discovered the Anglo-Egyptian Union in Zamalek, where he drank and talked politics and poetry. As usual he was well liked, and according to Lawrence Durrell often had a string of disreputable friends with him. Manning was much less popular. Durrell described her as a "hook-nosed condor", whose critical manner was unappreciated by many who knew her.
