Elderly but managed without a valet (4)
I believe the answer is:
aged
'elderly' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'managed without a valet' is the wordplay.
'without' is a deletion indicator.
'a valet' becomes 'man' ('man' can be a synonym of 'valet').
'managed' with 'man' taken away is 'AGED'.
'but' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for aged that I've seen before include "Matured like wine in wood" , "Senior" , "Long in the tooth" , "Grew older" , "Got older" .)