Smile Vera hid the night before (3)
I believe the answer is:
eve
'night before' is the definition.
(eve can mean the night before something)
'smile vera hid' is the wordplay.
'hid' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue (I've seen 'hides' mean this).
'EVE' can be found hidden inside 'smile vera'.
'the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for eve that I've seen before include "One from Genesis" , "Woman of Eden" , "See 13 Across" , "comes before Jan. 1st" , "Day before; girl's name" .)