Woman left to collect son and daughter perhaps (6)
I believe the answer is:
damsel
'daughter perhaps' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'woman left to collect son' is the wordplay.
'woman' becomes 'dame' (dame can mean a woman).
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'to collect' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are collected by others).
'son' becomes 's' (genealogical abbreviation for son).
'dame'+'l'='damel'
'damel' enclosing 's' is 'DAMSEL'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for damsel that I've seen before include "Young single woman" , "distressed girl?" , "Girl - type of fly" , "Maiden, often in distress" , "little fly" .)