Bag is carried by short manservant (6)
I believe the answer is:
valise
'bag' is the definition.
(I know that valise is a type of overnight bag)
'is carried by short manservant' is the wordplay.
'carried by' is an insertion indicator.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'manservant' becomes 'valet' (valet is a kind of manservant).
'valet' with its last letter removed is 'vale'.
'is' placed into 'vale' is 'VALISE'.
(Other definitions for valise that I've seen before include "Small piece of luggage" , "Small travelling bag or suitcase" , "Travel bag" , "Elvis A? (anag)" , "A small suitcase for Leavis" .)