‘When you were born, you had this fuzzy hair on yer head and I remember your mum said to the midwife, “It’s probably not hair at all, it is probably candlewick fluff. It gets everywhere!” And we all laughed so much . . . She had a crackin’ sense of humour, you know.’

Shelly struggled. She didn’t want to discourage him from talking about her mother by being emotional. In all these years, she’d never once heard him speak of her, his pain was too great.

‘That’s everything,’ she said, slightly disappointed after a final rummage in the bottom of the trunk. ‘The rest is just three lumpy old pillows. Might as well turf them while we’re here.’ She hauled one out. ‘Hang on a minute, they’re not pillows at all, Dad. There’s a drawstring at one end. I wonder if these are the pillow-bags Gran Gertie talked about on the tape?’ She tugged at the slip-knot that fastened one and gently tipped out the contents.

‘Oh my goodness,’ Shelly muttered, putting down the ottoman lid and taking a seat. Her father sat beside her. They both stared. ‘It’s Gertie’s bag, isn’t it? The one she packed when the . . . the one that made her miss the first lifeboat . . . the one that saved her life. Jees, this makes it all very real, doesn’t it, Dad?’

She picked up her phone and sent Harry a text.

I’ve found Gran Gertie’s bag from when she was on the Britannic. Will bring contents for the museum. XX.

Shelly turned and saw her father slumped forward with his elbows on his knees. He stared at the pile of stuff. ‘You know what, love, I think you should show this lot to . . .’ he gulped, ‘your son, next weekend.’

Shelly slipped her arm around his shoulders. ‘I do appreciate that all this is very hard for you, Dad. I want you to know that I understand. You never meant any harm, did you? I realised a long time ago; you were only thinking of my best interests when you insisted DJ went for adoption. I was too young, and perhaps I shouldn’t have kept my pregnancy a secret for so long. I said things . . . terrible things, well, I’m sorry.’ She could hear herself, crying, screaming.

I wish you were dead! I wish you were dead! I hate you!

His weathered old hands went up to cover his face for a moment. He drew in a long breath and said, ‘I’ve regretted insisting on his adoption every day since, Shelly love. It hurt so much, I couldn’t even speak about it. I tried a few times since, really I did, but it’s embarrassin’ to see a grown man cry. In the end I just gave up and tried to forget about the entire incident.’