Girl in scholarly dialogue (5)
I believe the answer is:
lydia
'girl' is the definition.
'in scholarly dialogue' is the wordplay.
'in' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'LYDIA' is hidden in the letters of 'scholarly dialogue'.
(Other definitions for lydia that I've seen before include "Old country" , "girl" , "Woman" , "'Love for --' (H.E. Bates)" , "Old kingdom" .)