"Thank you, oh Lord Joris," says Jamie, "for granting us this great favor."

Well, maybe for Joris, acting sensibly is a great hardship. Who knows what goes on in that head.

"All right," he adds, and turns away, towards a side street. "Let's go out towards the edge of the city. You get clotheslines and washing there."

If the route he wants them to take leads through the part of the city where his house sits, in his own Home world . . . well, that's just a minor detail, yes?