Emma's selfishness, and her attempts to control Harriet stand out to me more this time than during previous readings.

When Mr. Knightley says to Emma, "you would not regret your friend's leaving Highbury, for the sake of her being settled so well," Emma is more concerned that Harriet's marriage to Robert Martin will deny her a friend, rather than how not marrying Robert Martin might deny Harriet the affection and security of a husband who cares for her and offers a comfortable home (ch. 8).

Emma appears to be willfully attempting to exert some measure of control over her naive friend when she observes that it will be "safest" to keep Harriet with her (and away from Robert Martin) by having her stay at Hartfield "as much as possible" (ch. 8). Later in the chapter she worries about what might occur while Harriet is out of her sight (control?) when she returns briefly to Mrs. Goddard's: The possibility of the young man's coming to Mrs. Goddard's that morning, and meeting with Harriet and pleading his own cause, gave alarming ideas.