All 4 Uses

pretense
in
Persuasion, by Jane Austen
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They were soon dining in company together at Mr Musgrove's, for the little boy's state could no longer supply his aunt with a pretence for absenting herself; and this was but the beginning of other dinings and other meetings.†
Chpt 8

unconventional spelling: This is a British spelling. Americans use pretense.
It suited Mary best to think Henrietta the one preferred on the very account of Charles Hayter, whose pretensions she wished to see put an end to.†
Chpt 9 *

pretensions = appearances or actions to help one pretend
On going down to breakfast the next morning, she found there had just been a decent pretence on the lady's side of meaning to leave them.†
Chpt 16

unconventional spelling: This is a British spelling. Americans use pretense.
I could never doubt that you would be loved and sought by others, but I knew to a certainty that you had refused one man, at least, of better pretensions than myself; and I could not help often saying, 'Was this for me?'†
Chpt 23

pretensions = appearances or actions to help one pretend

Definitions:

(1) (pretense)
a false appearance or action to help one pretend

This is sometimes seen in the expression "false pretense" or "false pretenses" which is just emphasizing that behavior or actions do not reflect the true situation.
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)