In 1895, Terriss was a replacement in the original London production of George Edwardes's hit, "The Shop Girl", joining her husband as co-star. They toured America in 1895, where they befriended the American novelist Richard Harding Davis. At the instance of Gilbert, Hicks wrote a drama called "One of the Best", a vehicle for Terriss's father William Terriss at the Adelphi Theatre, based on the famous Dreyfus trial. The Hickses were frequent guests of Gilbert at his estate in Grim's Dyke. Terriss next played the title role, May, in "My Girl" (1896 at the Gaiety). Another early success for the young couple was "The Circus Girl" (1896; Terriss made Lionel Monckton's song, "A Simple Little String" into a major hit).