Here's a question for English pedants (like me!).
"(He) turned towards Elinor with what he hoped a winning smile..."
"(He) turned towards Elinor with what he hoped was a winning smile..."
This is Napoleonic period military fiction. I wrote the first: editor thinks the second. Bearing in mind modern readers' sensibilities, what do you think - 'not was' (active but needs more effort) or 'was' (passive but easy to read)?
I prefer version 2. In fact when I first read your question I automatically inserted "was" into the first version - we see what we expect to see when reading! I don't know where the "editor" comes in but surely making changes like this is part of his remit.
btw your 3rd sentence baffled me completely. I don't see any passive/active issue anywhere in this piece.
To was, or not to was, that is the question.
I bet Shakespeare would be envious of that line.
If you are not thinkng of changing the line, then leave the 'Was' in. It sounds much better when read aloud.
The second one for me makes sense, the first one doesn't. Even if grammatically correct it jars. Perhaps omit the 'what' as well. So I'm with Louise on this one.