French are to inform and answer girl (7)
I believe the answer is:
estella
'girl' is the definition.
'french are to inform and answer' is the wordplay.
'french are' becomes 'es' ('are' in French).
'to inform' becomes 'tell' (telling is a kind of informing).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'answer' becomes 'a' (abbreviation eg in Q and A).
'es'+'tell'+'a'='ESTELLA'
(Other definitions for estella that I've seen before include "girl loved by Pip" , "Pip's love (Great Expectations)" , "Sale let (anag) - girl's name" , "Dickensian character" , "Magwitch's daughter (Dickens)" .)