White was paid about fifty pounds (6)
I believe the answer is:
pallid
'white' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'paid about fifty pounds' is the wordplay.
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'fifty' becomes 'l' (Roman numeral).
'pounds' becomes 'l' (abbreviation e.g. Lsd - pounds, shillings, pence).
'l'+'l'='ll'
'paid' placed around 'll' is 'PALLID'.
'was' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for pallid that I've seen before include "Colourless, wan" , "Pale, insipid" , "lacking colour or brightness" , "Sickly pale" , "Without healthy colour" .)