Summary : Richard Turpin, the High Judge of London, decides to create his own Halloween tradition in the hopes of getting closer to his daughter.
Tag(s)/Warning(s) : A bit of angst. Mention of prostitution and death. Mention of children being beaten. Awkward father. If I forget something, please mention it to me !
A/N: Hello dear 😁 I'm back !!!!! Sorry for the dealy and I swear, I'm still working on your request (the Severus one !! I swear, I'm still on it) but guys, my life is just upside down right now and time seems to fly away and then my health was just like "Nope !" and then my brain was like "On strike !".
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Turpin wasn't a man fond of disturbances in his town. Fortunately, they didn't happen often. Except for that damnable Christmas, which inevitably returned every year.
Richard despised Christmas, a celebration full of painful memories from his childhood, between a violent dad, an indifferent mother and the hypocrisy of people during that said warm celebration.
In his family, Christmas wasn't about sharing meals, basking in the company of loved ones, or exchanging gifts by a crackling fire with sweet treats, hot chocolates and warmth laughter. No, for the Turpin's familly, the celebration in their towering manor was an exercise in appearances.
The household staff meticulously decorated his parents' estate, attending to every detail. A huge tree would pe positioned in the entrance hall, though neither Richard nor his younger brother were ever permitted to decorate it. As the sons of an earl, participating in such frivolous activities was beneath them.
Once, while he was only 6, he had the misfortune of breaking a glass ball while trying to observe it and his father, rather than worrying about the cut on his hand, punished him with a belt.
On the night of the grand party, the boys were confined to a separate room with their governess, far from the festivities. Richard would never forget that night during which, his brother and him had escaping the vigilance of the old governess to watch the guests in their finery from the grand staircase. Unfortunately for them, their fathers had caught them, which made them earn a beating on the spot in his study and a second from the governess, who was not at all maternal and who had punished them at length with her oaken switch, making them laid down on their bed and hitting again and again, scolding them for having dared disobeying her and arousing their father's anger towards her.
That was all Richard had known as a child. Beatings. Beatings from his father, beatings from his governess who was allowed to beat him and his brother as she pleased, and the indifference of a mother who looked away every time her husband unbuckled his belt or the governess made them bend over.
