the market-town reminded him of the queen 's pavillion without the air of strained tension and too-hectic gaiety - there was the same absurdly rich mingle of smells ( dominated by roasting meat and animal ordure ) , the same brightly dressed crowds ( although even the most brightly dressed people jack saw could n't hold a candle to some of the dandies he had seen inside the pavillion ) , the same unsettling but somehow exhilarating juxtaposition of the perfectly normal , cheek by jowl with the extravagantly strange .