Epilogue
Ratigan: What? There's more?
JWJ: Just end the story already!
Ratigan: This story has already grown to the size of a novel! What can you say that hasn't already been said?
Meg: I'm making sure no one can write a sequel.
Ratigan: (groan) Something tells me that I am not going to like this…
This is where the story of Rose McGeady ends, and the story of Renée Lyon begins.
Lyon was the personal secretary to London Free-Press editor in Strasbourg from 1897 to1899, when she left the office because of a conflict with the editor. Soon afterwards she joined the architect Bodo Ebhardt in a restoration project of an old chateau in the Rhine Valley. She assisted in giving him accurate information on the architecture of the Middle Ages. She left the project late in 1900, installing herself at a magazine in London.
It was at this magazine, The Aline Monthly, that Lyon received her notoriety as a journalist. The January 1901 issue of the magazine published an interview between Professor James Ratigan, who had just resurfaced as the leader of London's criminal underworld, and Renée Lyon. The interview, complete with photographs, caused a public uproar. Mouseland Yard attempted to arrest Lyon for fraternizing with the enemy, while rival journals denounced her as a liar and a slanderer. However, the Yard could not find a legitimate charge to level against Lyon, and Ratigan himself wrote letters to all the major London newspapers and magazines defending the interview, as well as Lyon's integrity. Basil of Baker Street himself verified the authenticity of the letters.
With this success under her belt, Lyon became a regular journalist for Aline. She published several pieces of great public interest, such as accounts of the Boer War, the situations in several African colonies, and information concerning London's crime chain. Besides the writings of Dr. David Q. Dawson, most critics viewed Lyon as an expert on the topic. She wrote several more articles on Ratigan, as well as several as his henchmen, including Fidget, Jack Doonegan, and Rose McGeady.
Lyon's life, however, was a dangerous one. She was constantly watched by the police and Basil of Baker Street for evidence of any criminal activity on her part. Several attempts were made on her life by enemies of Professor Ratigan, the families of his victims and dissatisfied criminals alike. She was often slandered in the newspapers for her seemingly improper relationship with the infamous Napoleon of Crime, and she was ostracized by her contemporaries.
In the span of three years Ratigan granted Lyon two more interviews. Then, on March 20, 1904, James Ratigan's body was discovered in a flat in the East End. The cause for his death is still unknown today.
Lyon wore black for a few months, and then wore a black cravat with her professional clothes until she married in 1910.
Lyon met the novelist Victor Porter while vacationing with friend Lisa Anderson and her mother at Scarborough in July of 1908. Within two years they were married. The couple had a daughter, Charlotte, in 1911. The marriage was not a happy one. Porter and Lyon often argued; he said she was a nag, while she claimed he was domineering.
In 1915, an affair between Porter and heiress Julia Hatherbury turned into a public scandal. Porter joined the army as a way to escape the humiliation he received at home. Lyon, however, left Charlotte with her mother-in-law while she reported the progress of the war from Paris for three months. She returned, and remained at home with her daughter for the duration of the war. Victor Porter was killed in action in late 1917.
Lyon moved in with her mother-in-law and continued writing for Aline. She also began to write two biographies; one on the life of James Ratigan, and the other on the life of Rose McGeady. She completed Ratigan's biography in the mid-twenties, where it met with considerable acclaim.
She withdrew from public life soon after, working solely on McGeady's biography for the remainder of her life.
Renée Lyon died on November 21, 1932, at the age of fifty-three.
Afterwards, as Charlotte was going through her mother's papers, she discovered an autobiography of Rose McGeady's life, written in her mother's handwriting. It was then that Gerald, Rose's old friend, came forward and revealed that Renée Lyon and Rose McGeady were the same person.
The autobiography of Rose McGeady's life was published in 1933, at the expense of her daughter. It was a financial and literary success.
Five years later Charlotte had her mother's gravestone replaced, now bearing the name of Rose McGeady Porter, and an inscription which said:
"What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."
Ratigan: YOU KILLED ME OFF!
Meg: I killed Rose off too! Happy?
Ratigan: Yes, but you made Rose famous! What about me?
Meg: Hey, the original version that was lost when my harddrive crashed had Basil defeating you in a final showdown! BE HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU GOT!
Luke: This leaves it open for your Meg Sarentis stories.
Meg: Eh... no, Oh, by the way, Strasbourg is in France, but in 1897 it belonged to Germany. And Bodo Ebhardt actually existed. The chateau he restored was called Haut-Koenigsbourg, and was given to the Kaiser of Germany at the end of the 19th century by the town of Selestat. Both the castle and the town are in modern-day France. (Meg starts bawling again)
JWJ: (rolls eyes) Girls.
Meg: NO! I have bad news!
JWJ: 'I just lost a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico?'
Meg: NO! I'm done writing GMD fanfiction!
Everyone: (gasp)
RAEB: WHY?
Meg: I just can't stand Meg Sarentis anymore, and I wanted this story to avoid a sequel. Besides, these plotlines are starting to repeat themselves, and I think I'd have to shoot myself if I created any new characters or storylines.
Ratigan: YES! YES! YES!
Meg: I also want to finally write a novel, like I've been trying to since I was twelve. Wow, I've been writing these GMD stories since I was fifteen…
Emma: Enough reminiscing! So that's it? You're done?
Meg: Sadly, yes. But if I do write a novel someday, I will have it under my alias, Meg Sarentis.
Leigh: WHY?
Meg: Attachment to the name. If it hadn't been for GMD, and all my reviewers and their useful advice, I wouldn't have gotten this far with my writing. Thanks everyone!
Ratigan: This is dragging on. Just say goodbye and be done with it!
Meg: (sticks out tongue at him) Make me, you big fat, ugly, stupid sewer rat!
RAEB: Yeah, you sissy!
Luke: Always falling in love with helpless girls!
Emma: And getting yourself defeated by Basil-
JWJ: Joining up with Nazis-
Leigh: And letting women ruin your good judgment-
Lizz: And showing us that sensitive, soft side!
Ratigan: (rolling up his sleeves, furious) DIE! All OF YOU!
(Ratigan chases all of them as they run away screaming)