She nodded. ‘Where are you taking me? I must confess; I only know a little information about the Britannic. I didn’t have time to research.’ She felt overwhelmed. ‘I’m so excited! Please tell me where, and all the details.’

‘It’s the Burdigala. Three kilometres out, seventy metres down, upright, on her keel. She sank just seven days before the Britannic, and there’s only two miles between them. Also, and you’ll love this, she was the second largest ship in Greek seas, only the Britannic being larger.’

‘What a lot of coincidences.’ They both stared out into the dark, their eyes drawn to the distant beam of the lighthouse. ‘Was there . . . I mean, did anyone die?’

He nodded. ‘A young engineer, French, killed by a broken steam pipe.’

‘Poor kid.’

He nodded. ‘Awful. But the same questions remain. Did the Burdigala hit a mine or was she torpedoed?’ He shook his head. ‘It’s a mystery, and for that reason, my favourite dive.’ He grinned. ‘You’ll love it.’

The excitement in his voice, matching her own thrill, sent shivers through her. ‘I’m sure I will, thank you so much. I can’t wait. Where was she destined, Lemnos?’

‘No, the other way. Heading for France to take on troops. At 10.45 a.m., same time as the Britannic, a midships, starboard explosion, identical to the Britannic, and like the Britannic, sank within the hour.’

‘Good heavens, surely that’s too many coincidences to be a coincidence? What do you think? You must be intrigued by it all?’

‘I think we should consider a pudding.’

‘A man after my own heart.’

‘I am.’ Her head snapped up. What was he saying? ‘Intrigued by it all,’ he said, seeing her fluster and laughing. ‘Let’s get the dessert menu.’ He raised a hand.

‘According to the report, a periscope was spotted,’ he said, then turned to the waiter and waved the menu away. ‘Baklava and ice cream.’

Shelly glanced down the menu. ‘Yogurt and honey with local walnuts, please.’ She returned her attention to Harry. ‘Go on.’

‘Even though the ship was sinking, the Captain ordered the Burdigala’s gunner to fire at the periscope. Fifteen cannon rounds were deployed, but who knows if they were successful? We’ve never discovered a submarine wreck.’

‘But that same submarine may have sunk the Britannic a week later?’

‘Possibly.’

‘Was the channel known to be mined?’

He shrugged, held his hands out, palms up. ‘How could they know? It was a busy sea lane, but the other ships were smaller, therefore not so low in the water.’