Embarrassed lady describing pagan Rome? (7,5)
I believe the answer is:
scarlet woman
'pagan rome?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'embarrassed lady' is the wordplay.
'embarrassed' becomes 'scarlet' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'lady' becomes 'woman' (I've seen this before).
'scarlet'+'woman'='SCARLET WOMAN'
'describing' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scarlet woman that I've seen before include "A description of pagan Rome" , "Drab" , "floozie" , "Notoriously immoral female" , "Promiscuous female" .)