about ten o'clock
Even the brilliant balls given by the opulent citizens of New York were eclipsed in luxury and splendor . There was the streaming of lamps and chandeliers , the swell of enchanting music , the whirl of the fascinating polka , redowa or mazurka , while throngs of richly attired and lovely women were constantly enhancing the magnificence of the scene by their arrival . The brilliancy of the occasion was also richly diversified by the presence of an unusually large number of officers of the Municipal and National Guards in full uniform , as well as of several belonging to the Line or the regiments of Algeria . It was about ten o'clock . Within , all was light , life and loveliness ; without , the winter wind moaned drearily through the leafless trees of the Boulevard , and the drifting sleet swept along the deserted streets . It was a wild night . Throughout all Paris seemed going forth a portentous murmur , like that mysterious moaning of the ocean , which , with mariners , is the prelude of a storm .