and its delay make me suspect that it was an afterthought. Mrs Weston pointed out that the delay might be due to their hesitating to presume to invite her, but the idea raised above that it was a networking dinner for the gentlemen strikes me as another possible reason. Even though Emma is at the top of the social food chain, her real influence in the business of the town, as a woman, is, if not negligible, at least much less than that of Mr. Knightley, Mr. Weston, Mr. Coles or even Mr. Cox. It may be that the Coles could have felt that the potential embarrassment of inviting her & being refused was not worth it.

Someone suggested earlier that her belated invitation could have been contrived by those among her friends who had influence with the Coles'. This seems plausible to me & the issue of the screen from London to protect Mr. Woodhouse from the fire was a convenient excuse.