The French secret I spilled in Midlands city (9)
I believe the answer is:
leicester
'midlands city' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the french secret i spilled' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'spilled' is an anagram indicator.
'secret'+'i'='secreti'
'secreti' anagrammed gives 'icester'.
'le'+'icester'='LEICESTER'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for leicester that I've seen before include "Elizabeth the first's favourite" , "English cheese, maybe red" , "East Midlands city, home of the National Space Centre" , "Central English city; red cheese" , "Sheep - cheese" .)