Julian and his new wife Mary accompany his merchant friends Stephen and Roger to Amiens in France and the market fair there. There, Julian meets a Moorish minstrel from Granada who is traveling at the behest of his Sultan to feel out the political climate of the Spanish and French kingdoms on Granada's borders. Julian and Abu enter into discussions on music, chess, and religion, and when he returns to Penzance, Julian decides he will open a tavern of his own.
At his annual Christmastime feast, Julian's landlord, Baron Anselm, agrees to put up money to help finance the beginnings of The Fallen Lady. Much of the rest of Book 2 involves the numerous measures which Julian must take to make his venture succeed, from Mary's making ale, to their upstairs baker neighbor providing bread, and making deals and friends with local providers, to adding on to their house to create the structure that will become the tavern. Many Worlds Since I Left Home is followed by a concluding Volume 3 in the Julian Plectrum series.