What do we learn about Scrooge's home life when Fan visits him at school?

We learn
from Fan's visit that Ebenezer Scrooge came from an emotionally abusive home and that Ebenezer's
relationship with his father was not close. Ebenezer had been sent away to boarding school, and
as the scene opens, he seems to assume that he won't be able to go home for Christmas, even
though all the other boys have left the school for the "jolly holidays." When Fan
comes in, she hugs and kisses him and calls him "dear, dear brother." The way Fan and
Scrooge compliment each other shows that they know how to express affection and warmth, but
apparently their father did not do so until very recently. Fan states that "Father is so
much kinder than he used to be, that home's like Heaven." This suggests that previously
their home was the opposite, that is, a...