14 Lacertae: A case of shell{orbit coupling? ?

We present new photometric and spectro- scopic observations of this peculiar Be star: respectively 516 V values in 16 nights and 50 spectrograms in 4 nights in the H region. A feature of the HeI6678 line prole seems to indicate the presence of a double{lined bi- nary spectrum. Nevertheless, an analysis of our and other available data (former published and unpublished pho- tometry) leads us to rule out the current interpretations of the double{wave light curve shown by this star: 14 Lac can neither be identied as an ellipsoidal variable nor as an eclipsing binary. Its variability is likely to be produced in the circumstellar region by a shell distortion due to the presence of the companion star, even if there is not enough evidence to exclude other hypotheses. The impli- cations both of the duplicity assumption and of its possible refutation are discussed.