Women I allowed to retain a servant (6)
I believe the answer is:
menial
'a servant' is the definition.
(menial is a kind of servant)
'women i allowed to retain' is the wordplay.
'to retain' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue (I've seen 'retaining' mean this).
'MENIAL' can be found hidden inside 'women i allowed'.
(Other definitions for menial that I've seen before include "Subservient, lowly" , "Servile, low" , "Demeaning" , "Requiring little skill; lacking prestige" , "Domestic servant" .)