Argosy All-Story Weekly

Where Was I, by Edgar Franklin, is the opening installment of a four-part story serialized in Argosy-All Story (November 1, 1924). The narrative follows Henry, secretary to Thomas F. Berford, president of the B. Berford Corporation. Henry witnesses his famously austere, work-obsessed boss—a bachelor thought incapable of sentiment—standing on the street below their office holding hands with a striking young woman in a pale blue automobile. The encounter visibly transforms Berford: he returns upstairs whistling, grins broadly, grants his secretary a salary increase, and displays uncharacteristic warmth and levity. The story's premise hinges on Henry's realization that the previously emotionally remote businessman has fallen in love, a development he finds almost incredible given Berford's single-minded dedication to work.