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What bargain does Scarpia offer Tosca in exchange for Cavaradossi’s life?

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Art Nouveau poster by Adolfo Hohenstein for Puccini's opera Tosca, showing a woman in a gold dress standing over a fallen figure, with dramatic red and black background and bold title text. — Tosca Poster by Adolfo Hohenstein for Giacomo Puccini's opera *Tosca*, 1906.

In Giacomo Puccini’s opera Tosca, the corrupt police chief Baron Scarpia offers to spare the life of the painter Mario Cavaradossi in exchange for Tosca submitting to his sexual advances.1

After Tosca is forced to witness Cavaradossi being subjected to torture and learns he has been sentenced to death, she begs Scarpia for mercy. Scarpia agrees to grant Cavaradossi a mock execution—meaning the firing squad would use blanks—after which the painter would be free to leave the country with Tosca. To facilitate their escape, Scarpia also agrees to provide a safe-conduct note.1

However, this bargain is inherently predatory and deceptive. Scarpia intends to betray the agreement, and Tosca, realizing the depth of his depravity, ultimately kills him with a knife before he can finalize his plans.1