In the convent it shows preference (8)
I believe the answer is:
priority
'preference' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'in the convent it' is the wordplay.
'in the' indicates putting letters inside.
'convent' becomes 'priory' (I've seen this before).
'priory' placed around 'it' is 'PRIORITY'.
'shows' is the link.
(Other definitions for priority that I've seen before include "preferential treatment" , "Most urgent matter" , "The right to go first" , "Matter of greatest importance" , "First concern" .)