SHIRLEY: Hello?

TOM: Oh hello. I was hoping to speak to Jack Fitzgerald about renting a cottage.

SHIRLEY: I’m his wife, Shirley, and we own the cottages together, so I’m sure I can help you.

TOM: Great. My name’s Tom. Some friends of ours rented Granary Cottage from you last year, and they thought it was great. So my wife and I are hoping to come in May for a week.

SHIRLEY: What date did you have in mind?

TOM: The week beginning the 14th, if possible.

SHIRLEY: I’ll just check … I’m sorry, Tom, it’s already booked that week. It’s free the week beginning the 28th, though, for seven nights. In fact, that’s the only time you could have it in May.

TOM: Oh. Well, we could manage that, I think. We’d just need to change a couple of things. How much would it cost?

SHIRLEY: That’s the beginning of high season, so it’d be £550 for the week.

TOM: Ah. That’s a bit more than we wanted to pay, I’m afraid. We’ve budgeted up to £500 for accommodation.

SHIRLEY: Well, we’ve just finished converting another building into a cottage, which we’re calling Chervil Cottage.

TOM: Sorry? What was that again?

SHIRLEY: Chervil. C-H-E-R-V for Victor I-L.

TOM: Oh, that’s a herb, isn’t it?

SHIRLEY: That’s right. It grows fairly wild around here. You could have that for the week you want for £480.

TOM: OK. So could you tell me something about it, please?

SHIRLEY: Of course. The building was built as a garage. It’s a little smaller than Granary Cottage.

TOM: So that must sleep two people, as well?

SHIRLEY: That’s right. There’s a double bedroom.

TOM: Does it have a garden?

SHIRLEY: Yes, you get to it from the living room through French doors, and we provide two deckchairs. We hope to build a patio in the near future, but I wouldn’t like to guarantee it’ll be finished by May.

TOM: OK.

SHIRLEY: The front door opens onto the old farmyard, and parking isn’t a problem – there’s plenty of room at the front for that. There are some trees and potted plants there.

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TOM: What about facilities in the cottage? It has standard things like a cooker and fridge, I presume.

SHIRLEY: In the kitchen area there’s a fridge-freezer and we’ve just put in an electric cooker.

TOM: Is there a washing machine?

SHIRLEY: Yes. There’s also a TV in the living room, which plays DVDs too. The bathroom is too small for a bath, so there’s a shower instead. I think a lot of people prefer that nowadays, anyway.

TOM: It’s more environmentally friendly, isn’t it? Unless you spend half the day in it!

SHIRLEY: Exactly.

TOM: What about heating? It sometimes gets quite cool at that time of year.

SHIRLEY: There’s central heating, and if you want to light a fire, there’s a stove. We can provide all the wood you need for it. It smells so much nicer than coal, and it makes the room very cosy – we’ve got one in our own house.

TOM: That sounds very pleasant. Perhaps we should come in the winter, to make the most of it!

SHIRLEY: Yes, we find we don’t want to go out when we’ve got the fire burning. There are some attractive views from the cottage, which I haven’t mentioned. There’s a famous stone bridge – it’s one of the oldest in the region, and you can see it from the living room. It isn’t far away. The bedroom window looks in the opposite direction, and has a lovely view of the hills and the monument at the top.

TOM: Well, that all sounds perfect. I’d like to book it, please. Would you want a deposit?

SHIRLEY: Yes, we ask for thirty percent to secure your booking, so that’ll be, um, £144.

TOM: And when would you like the rest of the money?

SHIRLEY: You’re coming in May, so the last day of March, please.

TOM: Fine.

SHIRLEY: Excellent. Could I just take your details …