The phrase "a pretence of a" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when describing a situation where someone is pretending or feigning something, often to create a false impression.
Example: "He maintained a pretence of a happy marriage, even though they were constantly arguing."
Alternatives: "a facade of a" or "an illusion of a".
It is a show, a token, a pretence of a strut on the world stage.
In the sermon, Swift conflates all dissenters with the Whig political party, and they are "those very persons, who under a pretence of a public spirit and tenderness towards their Christian brethrene, are so jealous for such a liberty of conscience as this, are of all others the least tender to those who differ from them in the smallest point relating to government".
And, given that across most of the nation gay people are not even shown a pretence of equal treatment, a desire to congregate is natural.
In Egypt, where five decades under a single party and almost three under its present leader, President Hosni Mubarak, have smothered all but a pretence of democracy, it has raised a big cloud of dust.
Lebanon managed, just, to maintain a pretence of aloofness from that imbroglio, despite a bitter polarisation among the Lebanese between supporters and foes of the beleaguered regime of Syria's Bashar Assad.
It's Will Young's Emcee who now sings "Tomorrow Belongs To Me", the fascist portent of this anthem chillingly revealed as he switches from a pretence of sweet-voiced youthful purity into a mad, malign puppeteer.
Despite a pretence of weighty introspection, the film is an easy watch because we're learning its lessons for the thousandth time over, on the way to a conclusion that's already been repeatedly validated.
On the contrary, as Polybius relates, no sooner was the battle begun, but the Macedonian king basely withdrew to the city Pydna, under a pretence of sacrificing to Hercules; a god that is not wont to regard the faint offerings of cowards, or to fulfil unsanctioned vows.
What one cannot do is simultaneously keep up a pretence of humanitarianism.
The number of African leaders who can eschew even a pretence of democracy is shrinking.
Such uses of "need to" thus represent, paradoxically, both a pretence of authority (in the diagnosis-at-a-distance of the person's "need") and an avoidance of authority, such as would be implied by the use of "should" or "must".
