It is interesting to see all these motives for Maria's elopement listed; I had not thought much beyond her passion for Henry.

Thanks for pointing out Maria's desire to split up Henry and Fanny as a contributing motive. Maria is such a selfish, egotistical, greedy girl that I find it rather satisfactory to watch her shoot herself in the foot - twice!

The first time, when she marries Rushworth, is not so hard to understand, especially considering that marrying for money and social status was not then widely condemned.

The second instance, when she elopes, just looks like complete stupidity on two counts. Firstly, When Sir Thomas returned, Henry failed to do as she had hoped and propose to her, instead choosing to clear off without giving her even the courtesy of telling her "it's over". It should have been blindingly obvious then that Henry was really not that into her, so to overcome that at Richmond I can only conclude that Henry's seduction technique must have been something special!

Secondly, we are told that Henry "went off with her because he could not help it". In other words, Maria forced the elopement, dragging Henry along as a conscript rather than a volunteer - which was just asking for trouble IMO.