So please my lord, I might not be admitted,
But from her handmaid do return this answer:
The element itself, till seven years’ heat,
Shall not behold her face at ample view,
But like a cloistress she will veiled walk,
And water once a day her chamber round
With eye-offending brine – all this to season
A brother’s dead love, which she would keep fresh
And lasting in her sad remembrance.
– William Shakespeare
Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 1. Valentine reports to Orsino that a melancholic Olivia is shunning the outside world for the next seven years and hiding her face in a dark veil, to honor her love for her dead brother. So she is not interested in Orsino.