Loss of hope of the French couple (7)
I believe the answer is:
despair
'loss of hope' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'of the french couple' is the wordplay.
'of the french' becomes 'des' ('of the' in French).
'couple' becomes 'pair' (synonyms).
'des'+'pair'='DESPAIR'
(Other definitions for despair that I've seen before include "gloom" , "First appearance" , "An unhappy state" , "Despondency" , "The feeling that nothing will turn out well" .)