Every thing was to take its natural course, however, neither impelled nor assisted. She would not stir a step, nor drop a hint. No, she had had enough of interference. There could be no harm in a scheme, a mere passive scheme. It was no more than a wish. Beyond it she would on no account proceed.
– Jane Austen
Emma, Chapter 39. Has Emma learned her lesson about the perils of matchmaking? When faced with her latest potential scheme of trying to match Harriet with Frank Churchill, she decides to let love and marriage take their natural course. But then she talks of there being no harm in a “mere passive scheme” and “a wish.” When does a passive scheme turn into the meddling and interfering in others’ lives that led to disastrous results in the past? For Emma old matchmaking habits die hard.