He turned to page 387 with a sense of sure discovery.
And there an entry caught his eye at once--and he knew that he had discovered more than he had ever hoped for.

He read it again and again, gloating over his wonderful luck.
June 19th, 1891.

John Brake, bachelor, of the parish of St.Pancras, London, to Mary Bewery, spinster, of this parish, by the Vicar.
Witnesses, Charles Claybourne, Selina Womersley, Mark Ransford.
Twenty-two years ago! The Mary Bewery whom Bryce knew in Wrychester was just about twenty--this Mary Bewery, spinster, of Braden Medworth, was, then, in all probability, her mother.

But John Brake who married that Mary Bewery--who was he?
Who indeed, laughed Bryce, but John Braden, who had just come by his death in Wrychester Paradise?
And there was the name of Mark Ransford as witness.

What was the further probability?
That Mark Ransford had been John Brake's best man; that he was the Marco of the recent Times advertisement; that John Braden, or Brake, was the Sticker of the same advertisement.