Valerie Bellini walks through the toys scattered on the floor and attempts to clear the kitchen table, before sitting down, as if resigned to the turmoil around her.

The 36-year-old woman's life was thrown into upheaval on Thursday evening, when her husband Alain, a French diving instructor, failed to return from a technical dive in Gozo.

"The sea has taken my husband's soul, but I am pleading with the sea to give me his body back," she said, resting her chin on the palms of her hand and battling to keep her tears back.

The official search for Mr Bellini, 44, was called off on Sunday but his wife is confident his colleagues from Moby Dives scuba diving school will still be on the lookout for him each time they go out for a dive.

"My head tells me he's dead, but my heart tells me not to give up," she said, in the knowledge that their four-month-old baby girl may never get to know her father.

Their dog, an 18-month-old brown boxer, epitomised the grief in the household. He lay on the bed looking miserable and Ms Bellini said he has refused to eat or drink since Thursday.

"He's just waiting for Alain. The other day he went to the laundry basket to get one of his t-shirts and slept with it next to him," she said, a tear streaking down her cheek.

A lull hung over Xlendi yesterday morning as the sea, which gently lapped the sandy beach, stubbornly refused to yield her husband's body.

"Everybody has tried so hard to find him. But they say the caves down there are like Swiss cheese. Since they found nothing of his, I keep hoping he's stuck in a cave where there is air," she said.

"He was very familiar with the caves. He's been doing this for 26 years and he's done some 8,000 dives. He's gone diving alone before, but he was never one to take risks and he always took double the equipment as a precaution."

Mr Bellini left home after lunch on Thursday at 1.30 p.m. The plan was that she would meet him at the diving school down the road in Xlendi at 5 p.m. and they would go for a drink.

"He wasn't even sure if he'd be diving that day since it was a quiet afternoon, but his friends said he left at 2.30 p.m. to go for a dive," she said.

"Depth was not his first goal in diving. He was keener to witness life underwater and he'd return excited saying he had been playing with an octopus," she said, adding that the search began at 5.50 p.m. when he failed to return.

"People have told me Alain was one of the best divers on the island and if somebody could go through this, he will."

There have been several reports that Mr Bellini had gone for a technical dive but his colleagues told The Times this would have entailed mixed gases and he went with normal air: "He never told anyone his plans... He just went for a dive in the bay."

Mrs Bellini met her husband three years ago when she attended a diving lesson in France. She instantly knew the man was married to the sea: "He used to say he was a fish. He would be happy even if he was going down for a short dive".

Having previously lived in Gozo for three years, 10 years ago he yearned to return to the island where he could practise his passion. So in March, the Bellini family sold all their belongings and moved to Xlendi from their native Burgundy.

Mrs Bellini is very grateful for all the help she has received from the locals and she thanked all those who had risked their lives to search for her husband, from his diving school to divers, the police and the army.

The couple, who have six children from previous marriages, were happily settled in Xlendi's tightly-knit community with her three children and their newborn daughter.

"Our dream was that when our children grew up we would buy a boat and just sail off," she said, unconsciously twirling the leather string around her neck, which held her engagement ring and a gold pendant.

"Alain gave me this pendant (with wings engraved) because it symbolises our son, an angel we lost when I miscarried. I never thought I would lose my husband a year later. Does it ever end?" she asked, her brown eyes staring blankly ahead.

Moby Dives scuba diving school has set up a fund to raise money for Mrs Bellini and her children. Those who wish to contribute can contact Mariella Cassar on 2155 1616.