...and, obviously, talked about. Miss Bates seems to make this clear, with, "Mrs Cole once whispered to me..." And she adds, "nobody could wonder if Mr Elton should have aspired..." As Emma herself says to Jane, "Mr Elton is the standard of perfection in Highbury, both in person and mind", so who indeed could wonder that he should have aspired to its Princess Emma? (Other than, of course, Her Highness Herself...)