double trouble for opponents seeking an easy target.

Take one.

Meet Ms Cox face-to-face and you could almost fear for her health in the periodic slugging matches of Bermudian politics.

Shy, modest, charming but seemingly vulnerable -- she resembles the schoolgirl at the back of the class who knows the answers but is too bashful to speak up.

Nevertheless she continually comes away with straight As.

Now, take two.

See her on TV or speaking in public, and witness Ms Cox the high-powered lawyer and self-styled political animal who has just become the newest member of Parliament and part of the first father-daughter team in the House of Assembly.

Confident, articulate, forceful and almost challenging -- gone is the demure schoolgirl, in comes the career-minded 90s woman.

In comes the former journalist, the senior legal counsel (corporate trust) at the Bank of Bermuda and, now, the Opposition Progressive Labour Party MP for Devonshire North with aspirations of being a Cabinet Minister, perhaps leading a proposed International Business Ministry.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette on the eve of today's Throne Speech debate in the House of Assembly, Ms Cox smiles at the paradox of the two Paulas.

It's a duality she is aware of without always being certain others had noticed it. "I think most of us are two people,'' she explains simply. If last week's reconvening of Parliament -- with all its pageantry -- is a guide, the strong-willed Miss 90s woman is likely to prevail.

Not only did she ride the swearing-in ceremony with comfort, she also contributed to the "congratulations and condolences'' session, thanking Devonshire North voters for their support in her by-election triumph.

There were nerve-wracking moments, however.

"At one stage last Friday I did feel almost overawed by the occasion. There is a certain majesty about the House.

"It makes you realise that people have given you their vote of confidence, and they have expectations of you.'' Educated at Berkeley Institute and the University of Western Ontario, and armed with a post graduate diploma in international law at England's Manchester University, Ms Cox, now aged "thirty-something'', decided more than ten years ago to follow father Eugene Cox's footsteps into politics.

In 1993 she was elected the party's Public Relations Officer, using the skills she picked up during a brief foray into journalism.

A former Devonshire resident, she was also one of two recipients of the Leader's Cup Award in 1995, presented by late PLP Leader Frederick Wade for outstanding service to the party. Ms Cox, who names former PLP Leader Lois Browne Evans as one of her political role models, shies away from tagging herself a pace-setter for her sex. But she is adamant more women should get involved in politics.