when Isabella does not seem to care, so to speak? Emma seems to think it her duty to protect Mr. Wodehouse from any kind of distress, which makes me think he must have been in constant depression before Emma started doing this. ;)

She did not learn it from her mother, so is Miss Taylor the culprit? Did Miss Taylor gently manipulate her master when he became too ovebearing with his gentle selfishness? Did a sharp Emma pick up the habit as a little girl and hone it to perfection? Emma may have started doing it out of boredom after Isabella left, and the habit became so ingrained in her personality, that she does not realise that she could be overdoing it sometimes. It seems an unhealthy attitude towards a parent and predisposes Emma into thinking she can manipulate other weak characters the same way.

Much as it is distressing when Mr. John Knightley gets petulant towards his father-in-law, he is the only one who appears to have a 'human' reaction to Mr.Wooshouse's childishness.