four o'clock
`` They are certain , then ! '' soliloquized M. Dantès , as Debray quitted the salon . `` I was sure I should know all before he left . '' Then , rejoining Mercédès , who was patiently awaiting him , they stepped into their carriage , as the drowsy tones of the watchman rose on the misty air , `` Past four o'clock , and all is well ! '' Tuesday , the 22nd of February , the birthday of the immortal Washington and the first of the Three Days of the French Revolution of 1848 , broke darkly and gloomily on Paris . The night had been tempestuous , and the wind still drove the sleet through the leafless trees of the Champs-Elysées and howled drearily along the cheerless boulevards . The streets were dismal , desolate and deserted .