In short, she can do without Ian (6)
I believe the answer is:
lilian
'in short she' is the definition.
'Lilian' can be an answer for 'she'. I'm not certain of the 'in short' bit.
'do without ian' is the wordplay.
'do without' becomes 'lil' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'lil'+'ian'='LILIAN'
'can' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for lilian that I've seen is " girl".)
I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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